
flass- 

Book_ M/_ 



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3& 



ANTISLAVERY MEASURES IN CONGRESS. 



HISTORY 



OF THE 



ANTISLAVERY MEASURES 



OK THE 



THIRTY- SEVENTH AND THIRTY-EIGHTH 
UNITED-STATES CONGRESSES, 

1861-65. 



By HENKY WILSOX. 



BOSTON: 
WALKER, FULLER, AND COMPANY, 

245, Washington Street. 

1865. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by 

WALKER, WISE, AND COMPANY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



SECOND EDITION. 
REVISED AND ENLARGKD. 



boston: 

STEKKOTYPED AND PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SOIi, 
No. 5, Water Street. 



P E E F A C E. 



Since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, ques- 
tions pertaining to slaves and slavery have often been 
pressed upon the Congress of the United States. Those 
questions, generally, originated by the slaveholding 
class, have, down to the 4th of March, 1861, almost 
uniformly resulted in the success of measures tending 
to the perpetuity and extension of slavery, and to the 
increase of its influence over the National Government. 
Since the breaking-out of the Rebellion, the exigencies 
of the nation have forced upon the 37th and 38th Con- 
gresses the consideration of a series of antislavery 
measures. These measures, so comprehensive in their 
scope and character, cannot fail to have a lasting in- 
fluence upon the future of the country. I have sought, 
in this volume, to narrate, with brevity, fau'ness, and 
impartiality, the history of the antislavery legislation 
of Congress during the past four years of civil war. 
In tracino; the words of the actors in these e:reat meas- 
ures of legislation, I have endeavored faithfully to give 
their ideas, or to quote their words, so as to present to 

a* [v] 



Vi PREFACE. 

the reader their position, feelings, and opinions. Trust- 
ing that I have not wholly failed in my endeavors to 
record with fidelity this antisla very legislation, I present 
this volume to the public, in the hope that it will be of 
some little Interest, especially to those who, amid years 
of obloquy and reproach, have labored and hoped for 
the dawning of that day, w^hen, in all the wide circuit 
of our land, " the sun will not rise upon a master, or 
set upon a slave." 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

SLAVES USED FOR INSURRECTIONARY PURPOSES MADE 

FREE. 

Slaves used in the Eebel Forces. Mr. Trumbull's Proposition to free Slaves 
used for Military Purposes. Mr. Trumbull's Speech. Mr. Breckin- 
ridge's Speech. Mr. Wilson's Speech. Mr. Breckinridge's Reply. Mr. 
M'Dougall's Speech. Mr. Ten Eyck's Speech. Mr. Pearce's Speech. 
Adoption of Mr. Trumbull's Amendment freeing Slaves used for Mili- 
tary Purposes. Substitute reported by the Judiciar}'^ Committee of the 
House. Substitute Rejected. Mr. Bingham's Speech. Mr. Burnett's 
Speech. Mr. Crittenden's Speech. Mr. Kellogg's Speech. Mr. Cox's 
Motion to lay the Bill on the Table. Mr. Pendleton's Speech. Mr. 
Stevens's Speech. Mr. Diven's Speech. Mr. Pendleton's Motion to 
recommit the Bill carried. Bill reported back with an Amendment. 
Mr. Holman's Motion to lay the Bill on the Table. Passage of the 
Bill pp. 1-16. 



CHAPTER n. 

FUGITIVE SLAVES NOT TO BE RETURNED BY PERSONS IN 

THE ARMY. 

Surrender of Slaves coming within the Lines of the Union Armies. Mr. 
Lovejoy's Resohition. Notice of a Bill by Mr. "Wilson. Mr. Lovejoy's 
Bill. Mr. Sumner's Resolution. Mr. Cowan's Speech. Resolution of 
Mr. Wilson of Iowa. Bill of Mr. Wilson of Massachusetts. Mr. Wil- 
son's Bill considered. Mr. Saulsbury's Motion to postpone indefinitely. 
Mr. Collamer's Amendment. Mr. Powell's Speech. Mr. Collamer's 
Speech. Mr. Wilson's Speech. Mr. Pearce's Speech. Mr. Blair's Bill 
to make an additional Article of War. Mr. Bingham's Speech. Mr. 
Vallandigham's Motion to lay the Bill on the Table. Passage of the 
House Bill. Reported by Mr. Wilson in the Senate. Mr. Davis's 

[vii] 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

Amendment. Mr. Saulsbury's Amendment. Mr. M'Dougall's Speech. 
Mr. Howard's Speech. Passage of the Bill. Mr. Wilson's Eesohition 
concerning the Surrender of Fugitives. Mr. Grimes's Amendment. 
Mr. Grimes's Speech. Mr. Sumner's Speech. Mr. Saulsbury's Speech. 

pp. 17-37. 

CHAPTER m. 

THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF 
COLUMBIA. 

The National Capital. Slavery. Mr. Wilson's Resolution. The District 
Committee. Mr. W^ilson's Bill. Mr. Morrill's Report, -with Amend- 
ments. Mr. Wilson's Bill to repeal the Slave Code. Committee's 
Amendments adopted. Mr. Morrill's Amendments. Mr. Davis's Amend- 
ments. Mr. Doolittle's Amendment. Remarks by Mr. Davis. Mr. 
Hale. Mr. Doolittle. Mr. Pomeroy. Mr. Willey. Mr. Saulsbury. 
Mr. King. Mr. Davis. Mr. Wilson. Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Saulsbury. 
Mr. Harlan. Mr. Wilkinson. Mr. Saulsbury's Amendment. Mr. Sum- 
ner. Mr. Wright. Mr. Fessenden. Mr. Davis's Amendment. Mr. 
Clark's Amendment. Mr. Willey's Amendment. Mr. Clark's Amend- 
ment. Mr. Davis. Mr. Morrill. Mr. M'Dougall. Mr. Sumner's 
Amendment. Mr. Wright's Amendment. Mr. Browning's Amend- 
ment. Mr. Wilmot. Mr. Collamer's Amendment. Mr. Doolittle's 
Amendment. Mr. Powell. Mr. Bayard. Passage of the Bill. House. 
Mr. Stevens's Motion. Mr. Thomas. Mr. Noxon. Mr. Blair. Mr. 
Crittenden. Mr. Riddle. Mr. Fessenden. Mr. Rollins. Mr. Blake. 
Mr. Van Horn. Mr. Ashley. Mr. Hutchins. Mr. Wright's Amend- 
ment. Mr. Hickman. Mr. Wadsworth. Mr. Harding's Amendment. 
Mr. Train's Amendment. Mr. Lovejoy. Mr. WicklifFe's Amend- 
ment. Mr. Holman's Amendment. Mr. Cox. Mr. Menzies' Amendment. 
Passage of the Bill pp. 38-78. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE president's PROPOSITION TO AID STATES IN THE 
ABOLISHMENT OF SLAVERY. 

The President's Special Message. Mr. Roscoe Conkling's Resolution. Mr. 
Richardson's Speech. Mr. Bingham's Speech. Mr. Voorhees' Speech. 
Mr. Mallory's Speech. Mr. WicklifFe's Speech. Mr. Diven's Speech. Mr. 
Thomas's Speech. Mr. Biddle's Speech. Mr. Crisfield's Speech. 
Mr. Olin's Speech. Mr. Crittenden's Speech. Mr. Fisher's Speech. Mr. 
Hickman's Speech. Passage of the Bill in the House. In the Senate. 



CONTENTS. IX 

the Resolution reported without Amendment hy Mr. Trumbull. Mr. Sauls- 
bury's Speech. Mr. Davis's Amendment. Mr. Sherman's Speech. Mr. 
Doolittle's Speech. Mr. Willey's Speech. Mr. Browning's Speech. 
Mr. M'Dougall's Speech. Mr. Powell's Speech. Mr. Latham's Speech. 
Mr. Morrill's Speech. Mr. Henderson's Amendment. Mr. Sherman's 
Speech. Passage of the Resolution pp. 79-91. 

CHAPTER V. 

THE PROHIBITION OF SLAYERY IN THE TERRITORIES. 

Mr. Arnold's Bill. Mr. Lovejoy's Report. Motion to lay the Bill on the 
Table. Mr. Lovejoy's Substitute. Remarks of Mr. Cox. Mr. Diven. 
Mr. Olin. Mr. Crisfield. Mr. Kelley. Mr. Sheffield. Mr. Stevens. 
Mr. Thomas. Mr. Bingham. Mr. Fisher. Passage of the Bill in the 
House. In the Senate. Mr. Browning's Report. Mr. Browning's 
Amendment. Mr. Carlile's Speech. Mr. Wade's Speech. Passage of 
the Bill as amended. Amendment of the Senate concurred in. 

pp. 92-109. 

CHAPTER VI. 

CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

Mr. Pomeroy's Bill. Mr. Trumbull's Bill. Mr. Morrill's Joint Resolution. 
Report of the Judiciary Committee. Mr. Sumner's Amendment. Mr. 
Sherman's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. Willey. Mr. Hale's Reply. 
Mr. Harris's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. Howard. Mr. Collamer's 
Amendment. Motion to refer to a Select Committee. Remarks of Mr. 
Wilmot. Mr. Wilson's Amendment. Mr. Collamer. Motion to refer 
to a Select Committee by Mr. Clark. Remarks of Mr. Hale. Mr. Wil- 
son's Reply. Select Committee. Mr. Clark's Report. Mr. Sumner's 
Amendment. Mr. Davis's Amendment. Mr. Saulsbury's Amendment. 
Mr. Wilson's Amendment. Mr. Clark's Amendment. Mr. Sumner's 
Amendment. Passage of the Bill. House. Mr. Eliot's Resolution. 
Mr. Roscoe Conkling's Amendment. Mr. Campbell's Resolution. Mr. 
Stevens's Resolution. Mr. Conway's Resolution. Bills referred to Judi- 
ciary Committee. Mr. Hickman's Report. Mr. Bingham's Substitute. 
Mr. Porter's Amendment. Mr. Eliot's Report. Bill defeated. Recon- 
sideration. Recommitted on Motion of Mr. Porter. Reported back by 
Mr. Eliot. Mr. Clark's Amendment. Senate Amendment lost in the 
House. Senate Conference Committee. House Conference Committee. 
Report of Conference Committee. Mr. Clark's Senate Amendment 
adopted. . • pp. 110-174. 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER Vn. 

HAYTI AND LIBERIA. 

Mr. Sumner's Bill to authorize the Appointment of Diplomatic Repre- 
sentatives to Hayti and Liberia. Mr. Sumner's Speech. Mr. Davis's 
Amendment. Mr. Davis's Speech. Passage of the Bill. The Bill 
reported in the House. Mr. Gooch's Speech. Mr. Cox's Amendment. 
Mr. Cox's Speech. Mr. Biddle's Speech. Mr. Kelley's Speech. Mr. 
M'Knight's Speech. Mr. Eliot's Speech. Mr. Thomas's Speech. 
Mr. Fessenden's Speech. IMr. Maynard's Speech. Mr. Crittenden's 
Speech. Passage of the Bill pp. 175 -183. 

CHAPTER Vni. 

EDUCATION OF COLORED YOUTH IN THE DISTRICT OP 

COLUMBIA. 

Mr. Grimes's Bill. Mr. Grimes's Report. Mr. "Wilson's Amendment. Re- 
marks of Mr. Wilson. Passage of the Bill. Bill reported in the House 
by Mr. Rollins. Passage of the Bill. Mr. Lovejoy's Bill. Reported by 
Mr. Fessenden. Passage of the Bill. Bill reported in the Senate by Mr. 
Grimes. Passage of the Bill. Mr. Wilson's Bill. Reported from the 
District Committee. Remarks by Mr. Carlile. Mr. Grimes. Mr. Davis 
Mr. Morrill. Passage of the Bill in the Senate. Passage in the House. 
Mr. Wilson's Bill. Mr. Grimes's Bill. Passage in the Senate. Mr 
Patterson's Substitute. Passage of the Bill. . . . pp. 184-194. 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE. 

The Treaty between the United States and Great Britain for the Suppression 
of the Slave-trade. Mr. Sumner's Bill. Remarks of Mr. Saulsbury. 
Passage of the Bill. Mr. Foster's Bill. Passage of the Bill. 

pp. 195-197. 

CHAPTER X. 

ADDITIONAL ACT TO ABOLISH SLAVERY IN THE DISTRIC I' 

OF COLUMBIA. 

Mr. Wilson's Bill. Reported back with Amendments by Mr. Grimes. Mr. 
Grimes's Speech. Mr. Wilson's Speech. Committee's Amendments. 
Mr. Sumner's Amendment. Passage of the Bill. Bill in the House. 
Remarks of Mr. AVickliffe. Motion to lay on the Table by Mr. Cox. 
Remarks by Mr. Crisfield. Passage of the Bill. . pp. 198-202. 



CONTENTS. xi 

CPIAPTER XL 

COLORED SOLDIERS. 

Mr. Wilson's BiH. Mr. Grimes's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. Saulsbury. 
Mr. Carlile. Mr. King's Amendment. Mr. Sherman's Speech. Mr. 
Fessenden's Speech. Mr. Rice's Speech. Mr. Wilson's Speech. Mr. 
Davis's Amendment. Mr. Collamer's Speech. Mr. Ten Eyck's Speech. 
Mr. King's Speech. Mr. Henderson's Amendment. Mr. Sherman's 
Amendment. Mr. Browning's Amendment. Mr. Lane's Speech. Mr. 
Harlan's Speech. Mr. Wilson's Bill. Remarks by Mr. Sherman. 
Mr. Lane. Speech of Mr. Howard. Mr. Sherman's Amendment. Mr. 
Browning's amendment. Remarks of Mr. Henderson. Mr. Wright. 
Mr. Doolittle. Mr. Powell. Passage of the Bill. Mr. Stevens's Amend- 
ment. Remarks of Mr. Clay. Mr. Boutwell. Mr. Davis's Amendment. 
Mr. Mallory's Speech. Mr. Webster's Amendment. Mr. Scofield's 
Speech. Mr. Wood's Speech. Mr. Whalley's Amendment. Mr. Ste- 
vens's Amendment adopted. Conference Committee. Report adopted. 

pp. 203-223. 

CHAPTER Xn. 

AID TO THE STATES TO EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES. 

Mr. Wilson's Joint Resolution. House Committee on Emancipation. Mr. 
White's Bill. Mr. Wilson's Resolution. Mr. Henderson's Bill. Mr. Noell's 
Bill. Mr. White's Report. Remarks of Mr. Clements. Mr. Wickliffe. 
Mr. Noell. Passage of the Bill. House Bill reported by Mr. Trumbull. 
Remarks of Mr. Henderson. Mr. Wilson's Amendment. Remarks of 
Mr. Fessenden. Mr. Trumbull. Mr. Foster. Mr. Wilson. Mr. Sher- 
man. Mr. Cowan. Mr. Bayard. Mr. Clark. Mr. Lane of Kansas. 
Mr. Morrill. Mr. Wilson's Amendment. Mr. Grimes's Speech. Mr. 
Kennedy's Speech. Mr. Harris's Report. Mr. Wilson of Missouri. 
Mr. Wall's Speech. Mr. Richardson's Amendment. Mr. Collamer's 
Amendment. Mr. Suinner's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. Powell. Mr. 
Sumner's Amendment. Mr. Sumner's Speech. Passage of the Bill as 
amended. Mr. White's Report in the House. Bill referred to Commit- 
tee of the Whole pp. 224r-248. 

CHAPTER Xm. 

AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Mr. Ashley's Bill. Mr. Wilson's Joint Resolution. House Committee on 
the Judiciary. Mr. Henderson's Joint Resolution. Mr. Sumner's Resolu- 
tion. Mr. Henderson's Amendment reported with an Amendment. 



Xll CONTENTS. 

Eemarks of Mr. Trumbull. Mr. Wilson. Mr. Davis's Amendment. Re- 
marks of Mr. Saulsburj. Mr. Clark. Mr. Howe. Mr. Johnson. Mr. 
Davis's Amendments. Mr. Powell's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. 
Harlan. Mr. Hale. Mr. M'Dougall. Mr. Hendricks. Mr. Hender- 
son. Mr. Sumner. Mr. Sumner's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. 
Trumbull. Mr. Howard. Passage of the Joint Resolution in the Sen- 
ate. Mr. Morris's Speech. Remarks of Mr. Herrick. Mr. Kellogg. Mr. 
Pruyn. Mr. Wood. Mr. Higby. Mr. Wheeler's Amendment. j\Ir. 
Kellogg of Michigan. Mr. Ross. Mr. Holman. Mr. Thayer. Mr. Mal- 
lory. Mr. Ingersoll. Mr. Pendleton's Amendment. Joint Resolution 
defeated. Mr. Ashley's Motion to reconsider. . . pp. 249-272. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 

Mr. Howe's Bill. Mr. Wilmot'sBill. Mr. Wilson's Bill. Mr. Stevens's Bill. 
Mr. Ashley's Bill. Mr. Julian's Bill. Special Committee on Slavery. 
Mr. Sumner's Bill and Report. Mr. Foster's Speech. Mr. Sherman's 
Amendment. Mr. Johnson's Speech. Mr. Sumner's Speech. Mr. Sauls- 
bur^''s Amendment. Mr. Brown's Speech. Mr. Howard's Amendment. 
Remarks of Mr. Conness. Mr. Morris's Bill. Remarks of Mr. Mallory. 
Mr. Morris. M. Wilson. Mr. Pendleton. Mr. King. Mr. Cox. Mr 
Hubbard. Mr. Farnsworth. Passage of Mr. Morris's Bill in the House. 
Mr. Morris's Bill reported by Mr. Sumner. Mr. Saulsbury's Amend- 
ment. Mr. Johnson's Amendment. Passage of the Bill. 

pp. 273-292. 

CHAPTER XV. 

PAT OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 

Mr. Wilson's Bill. Mr. Grimes's Amendment. Mr. Wilson's Joint Res- 
olution. M. Conness's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. Fessenden. 
Mr. Wilson. Mr. Foster. Mr. Sumner. Mr. Johnson. Mr. Grimes. 
Mr. Howe. Mr. Wilson. Mr. Grimes. Mr. Cowan's Amendment. Mr. 
Sumner's Amendment. Mr. Wilson's Amendment. Mr. Doolittle's 
Amendment. Mr. Sumner's Amendment to Mr. Cowan's Amendment. 
Mr. Wilson's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. Clark. Mr. Davis's Amend- 
ment. Mr. Collamer's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. Foot. Mr. Sum- 
ner's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. Wilkinson. Mr. Wilson. Mr. 
Howard. Mr. Johnson. Mr. Fessenden. Mr. Wilson's Bill. Mr. 
Davis's Amendment. Passage of the Bill. Mr. Wilson's Amendment 
to the Army Appropriation Bill. Mr. Stevens's Amendment. Remarks 
of Mr. Holman. Mr. Price. Mr. Holman's Amendment. Conference 
Committees. Report accepted pp. 293-312. 



CONTENTS. xiii 

CHAPTER XVI. 

TO MAKE FREE THE WIVES AND CHILDREN OF COLORED 

SOLDIERS. 

Mr. Wilson's Bill to promote Enlistments. Mr. Powell's Motion to strike 
out the Section to make free the Mothers, Wives, and Children of Col- 
ored Soldiers. Mr. Henderson's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. Grimes. 
Mr. Wilkinson. Eemarks of Mr. Johnson. Mr, Sherman's Speech. Mr. 
Carlile's Speech. Remarks of Mr. Doolittle. Mr. Brown's Amendment. 
Mr. Wilson's Amendment. Mr. Wilkinson's Amendment. Remarks of 
Mr. Sherman. Mr. Grimes. Mr. Conness's Motion to refer the Bill. 
Remarks of Mr. Clark. Mr. Howard. Mr. Fessenden. Mr. Davis's 
Amendment. Mr. Wilkinson's Speech. Mr. Wilson's Joint Resolution. 

pp. 313-327. 

CHAPTER XYll. 

A BUREAU OF FREEDMEX. 

Memorial of the Massachusetts Emancipation League. Mr. Eliot's Bill. 
Select Committee on Emancipation. Freedmen's Bill reported by Mr. 
Eliot. Remarks of Mr. Eliot. Mr. Cox. Mr. Cole. Mr. Brooks. Mr 
Kelley. Mr. Dawson. Mr. Price. Mr. Knapp. Mr. Pendleton. Pas • 
sage of Mr. Eliot's Bill. Mr. Sumner's Bill. Mr. Eliot's Bill reported 
by Mr. Sumner, with an Amendment. Mr. Sumner's Speech. Mr. 
Sumner's Amendment amended and adopted in the Senate. The House 
postpone the Bill to the next Session. .*.... p^ . 328-33 j. 

CH.4PTER XVIH. 

RECONSTRUCTION OF HEBI-L STATES. 

Mr. Harlan's Bill. Mr. Sumner's Resolutions. Mr. Ashley's Bill. Mr. 
Harris's Bill. Mr. Winter Davis's Resolution. Select Committee on 
Reconstruction. Mr. Davis's Bill. Remarks of Mr. Davis, Mr. Beaman, 
Mr. Allen, Mr, Smithers, Mr. Norton, Mr. Broomall, Mr. Scotield, Mr. 
Dawson, Mr. Williams, Mr. Baldwin of Massachusetts, Mr. Donnelly, Mr. 
Perham, Mr. Gooch, Mr. Fernando Wood, Mr. Kelley, Mr. Boutwell, 
Mr. Pendleton. Mr. Davis's Substitute. Passage of Mr. Davis's Bill. 
House Bill reported by Mr. Wade. Mr. Brown's Amendment, Mr. 
Sumner's Amendment. Passage of Mr. Brown's Substitute. House 
non-concur. Senate recede. Passage of the Bill. The President re- 
fuses to approve it pp. 337-347. 

b 



XIV CONTEXTS. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

CONFINEMENT OF COLORED PERSONS IN THE WASHINGTON 

JAIL. 

Mr. Wilson's Joint Resolution. Remarks of Mr. Wilson, Mr. Clark, Mr. 
Hale, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Fessenden, Mr. Sumner. Mr. Clark's Resolution. 
Ml'. Grimes's Bill. Remarks of Mr. Grimes. Mr. Powell's Amendment. 
Remarks of Mr. Pearce, Mr. Powell, Mr. Carlile, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Fes- 
senden, Mr. Latham, Mr. Cowan. Passage of the Bill. Mr. Wilson's 
Bill. Remarks of Mr. Wilson. Mr. Grimes's Amendment. Remarks 
of Mr. M'Dougall, Mr. Hale, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Pearce, Mr. Sumner. Mr. 
Bingham's Bill pp. 348-357. 

CHAPTER XX. 

NEGRO TESTIMONY. 

The Bill to abolish Slavery in the District of Columbia. Mr. Sumner's 
Amendment. Supplementary Bill to abolish Slavery in the District of 
Columbia. Mr. Sumner's Amendment. Mr. Sumner's Bill. Mr. Sum- 
ner's Amendment to the Civil Appropriation Bill. Remarks of Mr. 
Sumner. Mr. Sherman. Mr. Buckalew's Amendment. Remarks of 
Mr. Saulsbury. Mr. Howard. Mr. Sumner's Amendment adopted. 

pp. 358-361. 

CHAPTER XXL 

THE COASTWISE SLAVE-TRADE. 

Mr. Sumner's Bill. INlr. Sumner's Amendment to the Civil Appropriation 
Bill. Remarks of ^Ir. Sherman, Mr. Sumner, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Hen- 
dricks, Mr. Collamer, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Saulsbury, Mr. Doolittle. Adop- 
tion of Mr. Sumner's Amendment pp. 362-366. 

CHAPTER XXn. 

COLOR NO DISQUALIFICATION FOR CARRYING THE MAILS. 

Mr. Sumner's Bill. Passage in the Senate. Reported by Mr. Colfax in the 
House. Remarks of Mr. Colfax. Mr. Dawes. Mr. Wickliffe. Bill 
laid on the Table. Mr. Sumner's Bill. Mr. Collamer's Amendment. 
Remarks of Mr. Collamer. Mr. Lane of Indiana. Mr. Lane of Kansas. 
Mr. Saulsbury. Mr. Sumner. Mr. Powell. Mr. Hendricks. Mr. Pow- 
ell's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. Conness. Mr. Johnson. 

pp. 367- 370. 



CONTENTS. XV 

CHAPTER XXm. 

NO EXCLUSION FROJI THE CARS ON ACCOUNT OF COLOR. 

Mr. Sumner's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. Saulsbury, Mr. Johnson, 
Mr. Sumner, Mr. Momll. Mr. Sumner's Amendment. Remarks of Mr. 
Sberman, Mr. Hendricks, Mr. Willey, Mr. Summer, Mr. Wilson, Mr. 
Trumbull, Mr. Sumner, Mr. Wilson, Mr. .Grimes, Mr. Powell. Amend- 
ment agreed to pp. 371-376. 

CHAPTER XXrV. 

AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. FINAL ACTION. 

Second Session of Congress. President's Message. Remarks by Mr. 
Brooks. Mr. Creswell. Remarks by Mr. Ashley on his Motion to re- 
consider the Rejecting Vote. Remarks by Mr. Orth. Mr. Scofield. Mr. 
Bliss. Mr. Rogers. Mr. Davis. Mr. Yeaman. Mr. Odell. Mr. Kas- 
son. Mr, Fernando Wood. Mr. King. Mr. Smithers. Mr. Holman. 
Mr. Pendleton. Mr. Jenckes. Mr. Rollins. Mr. Garfield. Mr. Stevens. 
Mr. Baldwin. Mr. Washburne. Mr. Patterson. Mr. Pike. Mr. M'Al- 
lister. Mr. Herrick. Mr. Brown. Previous Question. Motion to laj'^ 
the Motion to reconsider lost. Resolution reconsidered. Passage of the 
Amendment. Vote received with Cheers pp. 377-394. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

TO MAKE FREE THE WIVES AND CHILDREN OP COLORED 
SOLDIERS. FINAL ACTION. 

Mr. Wilson's Joint Resolution to make Wives and Children free. Re- 
ported back by the Militarj" Committee. Motion by Mr. Davis to refer 
it to Judiciary Committee. Remarks of Mr. Wilkinson. Mr. Wilson. 
Mr. Hendricks. Mr. Powell. Mr. Davis. Motion to refer lost. Re- 
marks of Mr. Doolittle. Mr. Saulsbury. Mr. Sumner. Mr. Clark. 
Mr. Pomeroy. Mr. Wade. Mr. Johnson. Mr. Powell's Amendment. 
Mr. Davis's Amendment rejected. Remarks by Mr. Trumbull. Pas- 
sage of the Joint Resolution. Resolution reported from the House 
Judiciary Committee. Remarks of Mr. Wilson. Mr. Harris. Mr. Mal- 
lory. Passage of the Resolution. Approval by the President. 

pp. 395-404. 



XVI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXYI. 

A BUKEATJ OF FREEDMEN. FINAL ACTION. 

House non-concur in the Senate Amendment, Committee of Conference. 
Eeport of the Conference Committee. Remarks of Mr. Kernan. Mo- 
tion to lay the Eeport on the Table lost. Remarks of Mr. Schenck. 
Report accepted. Remarks of Mr. Sumner. Mr. Davis. Mr. Hen- 
dricks. Mr. Grimes. Mr. Sprague. Mr. Sumner. Mr. Grimes. Mr. 
Henderson. Mr. Hale. Mr. Conness. Mr. Morrill. Mr. Johnson. 
Mr. Harlan. Report of the Conference Committee rejected. The Sen- 
ate ask another Conference. The House agree to a Committee of Con- 
ference. Mr. Wilson reports a Bill from the Conference Committee. 
Remarks of Mr. Powell. Mr. HoAvard. Report accepted. Report 
accepted by the House pp. 405-416. 



CHAPTER XXVn. 
CONCLUSION pp. 417-424. 



ANTISLAYERY MEASURES IN CONGRESS. 



CHAPTER I. 

SLAVES USED FOE INSURRECTIONARY PURPOSES 
MADE EREE. 

SLAVES USED IN THE REBEL FORCES. — MR. TRUMBULL'S PROPOSITION 
TO FREE SLAVES USED FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. — MR. TRUMBULL'S 
SPEECH. — MR. BRECKINRIDGE'S SPEECH. — MR. WILSON'S SPEECH. — 
MR. BRECKINRIDGE'S REPLY. — MR. M'DOUGALL'S SPEECH. — MR. TEN 
EYCK'S SPEECH. — MR. PEARCE'S SPEECH. — ADOPTION OF MR. TRUM- 
BULL'S AMENDMENT FREEING SLAVES USED FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. 
— SUBSTITUTE REPORTED BY THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE OF THE 
HOUSE. — SUBSTITUTE REJECTED. — MR. BINGHAM' S SPEECH. — MR. 
BURNETT'S SPEECH. — MR. CRITTENDEN'S SPEECH. — MR. KELLOGG'S 
SPEECH. — MR. cox's MOTION TO LAY THE BILL ON THE TABLE. — 
MR. PENDLETON'S SPEECH. — MR. STEVENS'S SPEECH. — MR. DIVEN'S 
SPEECH. — MR. PENDLETON'S MOTION TO RECOMMIT THE BILL CAR- 
RIED. — BILL REPORTED BACK AVITH AN AMENDMENT. — MR. HOLMAN'S 
_ MOTION TO LAY THE BILL ON THE TABLE. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. 

AT the opening of the Rebellion, slaves were used 
by their masters for insurrectionary purposes. 
Wherever armed rebels gathered, officers, and in many 
instances privates, brought their slaves with them as 
servants. Slaves were put at work on fortifications, 
and employed by thousands as laborers in various ca- 
pa.cities in the rising forces of the insurgents. Tliey 
were used in the erection of the works in the harbor of 

1 



2 SLAVES USED FOR WAE-PURPOSES 

Charleston, on wlilcli were planted the batteries whose 
fires demolished Sumter, and kindled the devastating 
flames of civil war. In Virginia, where the rebel forces 
were massino- for the contest, the labor of slaves lio-ht- 
ened the toils of rebel soldiers, and augmented the 
powers of rebel armies. 

In the Senate, on the 20th of July, 1861, i\Ir. 
Trumbull (Rep.) of Illinois, Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on the Judiciary, reported, by order of that 
committee, a bill to confiscate the property used for 
insurrectionary purposes. The bill provided, that if 
during the present or any future insurrection against 
the Government of the United States, after the President 
shall have declared by proclamation that the laws of 
the United States are opposed, and the execution ob- 
structed, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed 
by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, any 
person or persons, his, her, or their agent, attorney, or 
employe^ shall purchase or acquire, sell or give, any 
property, of whatsoever kind or description, with intent 
to use or employ the same, or suflTer the same to be used 
or employed, in aiding, abetting, or promoting such 
insurrection, or any person or persons engaged therein ; 
or if any person or persons, being the owner or owners 
of any such property, shall knowingly use or employ, 
or consent to the use or employment of, the same, — all 
such property is to be declared to be lawful subject of 
prize and capture wherever found. 

Mr. Fessenden (Rep.) of Maine thought it a very 
important bill, that had better be postponed for consid- 
eration. Mr. Trumbull did not care to have the bill 
considered at that time ; but he would like to offer an 



MADE FREE. 3 

amendment, not reported from the committee, with the 
view of having it before the Senate. He then proposed 
as an additional section, — 

" That whenever any person claiming to be entitled to the 
service or labor of any other person, under the laws of any 
State, shall employ such person in aiding or promoting any 
insurrection, or in resisting the laws of the United States, or 
shall permit or suffer him to be so employed, he shall forfeit 
all right to such service or labor ; and the person whose labor 
or service is thus claimed shall be henceforth discharged 
therefrom, any law to the contrary notwithstanding." 

Mr. Ten Eyck (Rep.) of Xew Jersey did not under- 
stand the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary 
to offer the amendment from that committee. Mr. 
Trumbull replied, that he had already stated that he 
offered the amendment himself, not from the committee. 

On the 2 2d of July, the day following the battle of 
Bull Run, the bill to confiscate property used for in- 
surrectionary purposes was taken up for consideration ; 
the pending question being Mr. Trumbull's amendment 
freeing slaves used for military purposes. Mr. Breck- 
inridge (Dem.) of Kentucky said, "This amendment 
strikes me as very objectionable. I do not propose to 
argue it, for I am aware it w411 probably command a 
decided majority in the Senate ; but I ask for the yeas 
and nays on the amendment." Mr. Trumbull, Chair- 
man of the Judiciary Committee, in reply to Mr. 
Breckinridge, said, "As the yeas and nays are called 
for, I will state simply what it is, and all there is of it. 
The amendment provides, that if any person held to 
service or labor in any State, under the laws thereof 
(by which, of course, is meant a slave in any of these 



4 SLAVES USED FOR WAR-PURPOSES 

States), if employed, in aid of this Rebellion, in dig- 
ging ditches or intrenchments, or in any other way, or 
if used for carrying guns, or if used to destroy this 
Government, by the consent of his master, his master 
shall forfeit all right to him, and he shall be for ever 
discharged ; and I am glad the yeas and nays are called 
to let us see who is willing to vote that the traitorous 
owner of a pegro shall employ him to shoot down the 
Union men of the country, and yet insist upon restoring 
him to the traitor that owns him. I understand that 
negroes were in the fight which has recently occurred. 
I take it that negroes who are used to destroy the 
Union, and to shoot down the Union men by the con- 
sent of traitorous masters, ought not to be restored to 
them. If the senator from Kentucky is in favor of 
restoring them, let him vote against the amendment. 
To these remarks of Mr. Trumbull, Mr. Breckinridge 
replied, with some warmth of manner, " The line of 
remarks made by the senator appears to me to be alto- 
gether uncalled for. I expect to do my duty here as a 
senator, upon my own conscience and upon my own 
judgment, according to the Constitution. I shall enter 
into no argument in reply. I showed my willingness 
to vote by asking for the yeas and nays. In my opin- 
ion, the amendment will be one of a series which will 
amount, before we are done with it, — if, unhappily, 
we have no settlement or adjustment soon, — to a gen- 
eral confiscation of all property, and a loosing of all 
bonds. The inferences the senator draws are not 
deducible from my motives and purpose in calling for 
the yeas and nays on this amendment, and the vote I 
shall ofive." 



SIADE FKEE. 5 

"I shall vote," said Mr. Wilson (Rep.) of Massa- 
chusetts, "with more heart than I vote for ordinary 
measures, for this proposition. I hope the Senate and 
the House of Representatives will sustain it, and that 
this Government will carry it out with an inflexibility 
that knows no change. The idea that men who are in 
arms destroying their country shall be permitted to use 
others for that purpose, and that we shall stand by and 
issue orders to our commanders, that we should dis- 
grace our cause and our country by returning such 
men to their traitorous masters, ought not longer to be 
entertained. The time has come for that to cease ; 
and by the blessing of God, as far as I am concerned, 
I mean it shall cease. If there is anybody in this 
Chamber that chooses to take the other path, let him do 
it : let him know what our purpose is. Our purpose is 
to save this Government and save this country, and to 
put down treason ; and, if traitors use bondmen to 
destroy this country, my doctrine is that the Govern- 
ment shall at once convert those bondmen into men that 
cannot be used to destroy our country. I have no 
apologies to make for this position. I take it proudly. 
I think the time has come, when this Government, and 
the men who are in arms under the Government, should 
cease to return to traitors their fugitive slaves, whom 
they are using to erect batteries, to murder brave men 
who are fighting under the flag of their country. The 
time has come when we should deal with the men who 
are organizing negro companies, and teaching them 
to shoot down loyal men for the only offence of uphold- 
ing the flag of their country. I hope further, sir, that 

there is a public sentiment in this country that will 

1* 



6 SLAVES USED FOR WAR-PURPOSES 

blast men who will rise in the Senate, or out of it, to 
make apologies for treason, or to defend or to maintain 
the doctrine that this Government is bound to protect 
traitors in convertino; their slaves into tools for the 
destruction of the Republic." 

"One single word, sir," said Mr. Breckinridge in 
reply. " The senator from Massachusetts is a senator 
from that Commonwealth, and, I presume, discharges 
what he believes to be his duty. I am a senator from 
Kentucky, and I do the same thing; and when the 
senator attempts to deter me from doing my duty in my 
place, by intimating to me that the public sentiment, 
here or elsewhere, will blast any man who votes as he 
believes in his conscience to be right, I tell him that 
he speaks to the wind. I will utter no unparliamentary 
lanofuaore ; but I "five that senator notice now, that it is 
perfectly idle to attempt to influence the conduct of 
senators, in the discharge of their public duties, by any 
such course of remark." 

" I understand this amendment," said Mr. M'Dougall 
(Dem.) of California, "to be in the nature of a confis- 
cation for treason. I am in favor of it ; but I ask the 
senator from Illinois to make one modification in it. 
As it now reads, it makes the confiscation where the 
masters ^ permit or suffer ' the employment of these 
parties. ^ Suffer ' may be something he is compelled to 
do, and therefore I object to that term." Mr. Trumbull 
would agree to that amendment. 

Mr. Ten Eyck of New Jersey said, " No longer ago 
than Saturday last, I voted in the Judiciary Committee 
asrainst this amendment, for two reasons : first, I did 
not believe that persons in rebellion against this Govern- 



MADE FREE. 7 

ment would make use of such means as the employment 
of persons held to hibor or service in their armies ; 
secondly, because I did not know what was to be- 
come of these poor wretches if they were discharged. 
God knows, we do not want them in our section of the 
Union. But, sir, having learned, and believing, that 
these persons have been employed with arms in their 
hands to shed the blood of the Union-loving men of this 
country, I shall now vote in favor of that amendment, 
with less regard to what may become of these people 
than I had on Saturday. I will merely instance that 
there is a precedent for this. If I recollect history 
aright. Gen. Jackson, in the Seminole War, declared 
that every slave who was taken in arms against the 
United States should be set free." 

"It will not be surprising to the Senate," said Mr. 
Pearce (Dem.) of Maryland, "if those who come from 
the section of the country in which I reside should be 
a little sensitive at any thing which proposes, as this 
amendment does, an act of emancipation, however 
limited and qualified. That is my objection to it. Be- 
sides, I think it will be hrutum fulmen. Nothing 
will come of it but more of that irritation of which it is 
my earnest prayer there shall be as little as possible. I 
think it is the part of statesmen, in managing the con- 
cerns of the country at this dreadful crisis, to observe 
all possible toleration, all conciliation, all liberality ; not 
looking merely at the events of the day, but at the 
great events that may crowd upon us for years, and 
upon which the fate of the country, for weal or for 
woe, may depend for a century. I am not insensible 
to the magnitude of this occasion. I look at all its 



8 SLAVES USED FOR WAR-PURPOSES 

aspects, and at all the consequences which may result 
from that which is now in progress. No man de- 
plores it more deeply than I do. No man sought 
more earnestly to shun it. I only ask now, that this 
measure, which cannot be of any very active force, may 
not be adopted ; because it will only add one more to 
the irritations which are already exasperating the coun- 
try to far too great an extent. It will inflame suspicions 
which have had much to do with producing our present 
evils ; will disturb those who are now calm and quiet ; 
inflame those who are restless ; irritate numbers who 
would not be exasperated by any thing else ; and will, 
in all probability, produce no other real effect than these. 
Being, then, useless, unnecessary, and irritating, it is, 
in my opinion, unwise." 

The question, being taken by yeas and nays, resulted 

— yeas 33, nays 6 — as follows : — 

Yeas. — Messrs. Anthony, Bingham, Browning, Chandler, Clark, 
Collamer, Cowan, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, 
Hale, Harlan, Harris, Howe, Johnson of Tennessee, King, Lane of 
Kansas, M'Dougall, Morrill, Nesmith, Pomerov, Sherman, Simmons, 
Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, AVilkinson, Wilmot, and Wilson, 

— 33. 

Nats. — Messrs. Breckinridge, Johnson of Missouri, Kennedy, 
Pearce, Polk, and Powell, — 6. 

So the amendment was agreed to, the bill was re- 
ported to the Senate as amended, the amendments were 
concurred in, and the bill passed the Senate. 

In the House of Representatives, on the 2d of 
August, Mr. Bingham (Rep.) of Ohio, from the Com- 
mittee on the Judiciary, reported back, with an amend- 
ment in the nature of a substitute, the Senate bill to 
confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes. 



MADE FKEE. 9 

It provided that whenever hereafter, during the exist- 
ence of the present insurrection against the Government 
of the United States, any person held to labor or service 
under the laws of any State shall be required or per- 
mitted, by the person to whom such labor or service is 
due, or his legal agent, to take up arms against the 
United States, or to work or be employed in or about 
any fort, navy-yard, armory, dock-yard, ship, or in any 
military or naval service, against the Government of the 
United States, or as the servant of any person engaged 
in active hostilities against the United States, then the 
person to whom such labor is due shall forfeit all claim 
to such service or labor, any law of any State or of 
the United States to the contrary notwithstanding ; 
and, in case of a claim for such labor, such facts shall 
be a full and sufficient answer. 

Mr. Bingham said, " The substitute is the instruction 
of a majority of the committee, from which I dissent." 
Mr. Sheffield (Dem.) of Rhode Island desired "to 
know to whom this right of property is to be forfeited.'* 
To this question Mr. Bingham replied, "The forfeiture 
is simply a forfeiture of all claim, under any State laws 
or under any laws of the United States, of the person so 
oflfending, to any person hitherto held to service by him." 

Mr. Kellogg (Rep.) of Illinois proposed an amend- 
ment to the original bill, — to strike out, in the fourth 
section, all after the sixth line, as follows : " And the 
person whose labor or service is thus claimed shall be 
thenceforth discharged therefrom, any law to the con- 
trary notwithstanding ; " and insert, in lieu thereof, as 
follows : "And such claim to service or labor shall be 
confiscated." 



> 



10 SLAVES USED FOR WAR-PURPOSES 

Mr. Bingham demanded the previous question on the 
substitute reported by the Judiciary Committee, and 
the substitute was rejected. 

Mr. Bingham then remarked, that "the Senate bill is 
a sweeping declaration, that whenever any person claim- 
ing to be entitled to the service or labor of any other 
person, under the laws of any State, shall employ such 
person in aiding or promoting any insurrection, or in 
resisting the laws of the United States, or shall permit 
^im to be so employed, he shall forfeit all right to such 
service or labor ; and the person whose labor or service 
is thus claimed shall be thenceforth discharged there- 
from, any law to the contrary notwithstanding." 

Mr. Burnett (Dem.) of Kentucky understood that 
"the use of a slave, by authority of the owner, in any 
mode which will tend to aid or promote this insurrec- 
tion, Avill entitle that slave to his freedom." — "Certainly 
it will," replied Mr. Bingham. " Or with his consent," 
inquired Mr. Burnett, " or the consent of his agent, in 
any mode whatever, then the negro is entitled to his 
freedom ?" — "Yes, sir," replied Mr. Bingham. "Then," 
exclaimed Mr. Burnett, "that amounts to a wholesale 
emancipation of the slaves in the seceding or rebellious 
States." — "No just court in America," replied Mr. 
Bingham, " will ever construe this fourth section, if it 
becomes a law, to the effect, that because it happens 
that citizens of the United States, residing in a seceding 
State, hold slaves, this law amounts to an emancipation 
of their slaves. By the express words of the bill, it is 
limited in its effect to those persons, who themselves, by 
their own direct acts, for the purpose of overturning the 
powers of the Government, employ, or consent that 



MADE FREE. 11 

others shall employ, the services of their slaves to that 
end. I aver that a traitor should not only forfeit his 
slaves, but he should forfeit his life as well." — "It has 
been conceded," said Mr. Crittenden of Kentucky, " in 
all time, that the Congress of the United States had no 
power to legislate upon the subject of slavery within the 
States. Absence of all power of legislation in time of 
peace must be the absence of the same power at all 
times. You have no power, by your Constitution, to 
touch slavery at all." 

Mr. M'Clernand (Dem.) of Illinois inquired "if it 
would not be competent, according to the laws of war, 
for the Government to forfeit the ownership of a horse 
found in the use of the enemy in war, and if a law which 
would forfeit the ownership of a horse would not forfeit 
the title to a negro found engaged in military service." 
— "I am not inquiring," replied Mr. Crittenden, "nor 
am I prepared to make an argument, as to powers in 
a state of war, — as to national law, world-wide law. I 
am interposing a positive statute ; and I say, if there is 
no power to do this thing in time of peace, there is no 
such power at any time." 

INIr. Kellogg (Eep.) of Illinois suggested to Mr. 
Crittenden, "whether it is nof competent to forfeit the 
claim that a man has to his slaves, for treason in the 
master, in the same way that he would forfeit his claim 
to his horse, and yet not at all conflict with or abrogate 
the law that authorizes the holding of slaves." — "If 
you have no power," replied Mr. Crittenden, "there the 
question ends. AYell, have you a power to legislate 
concerning a slave in Kentucky, as to his rights present 
or fiiture ? Have you a right to impose any terms or 



12 SLAVES USED FOR WAR-PURPOSES 

conditions on the master, in time of peace, on which the 
slave shall be entitled to his liberty ? " 

Mr. Kellogg, in answer, said, "My idea on that point 
is simply this : that the citizen of Kentucky, like the 
citizen of any State, by an infraction of law, — of 
the highest law of the country, — is liable to penalties 
and forfeitures. It operates on the person to forfeit his 
right by his own crime, and does not at all attack or 
invalidate the right to hold slaves or abolish slavery in 
Kentucky. 

Mr. Cox (Dem.) of Ohio moved that the bill be 
laid upon the table, and demanded the yeas and nays 
on his motion. The question was taken ; and it was 
decided in the negative, — yeas 57, nays 71. Mr. 
Pendleton (Dem.) of Ohio moved to recommit the 
bill to the Judiciary Committee. "I may be asked," 
said Mr. Diven (Rep.) of New York, "'What would 
you do with negroes taken in actual arms against the 
country? What would you do with negroes found 
employed in building ships-of-war, fighting battles 
against the country, rearing fortifications from which 
shots are to be fired on the soldiers of the Union?* 
Why, sir, I would treat them as men in arms against 
the country. I would treat them as prisoners of war. 
Then I admit that a question, entirely novel in the 
usages of war, at once occurs. You have then got a 
species of men as prisoners whom the usages of war, in 
no place that I have ever seen, treat as such. I proposed 
in committee, as a substitute for this bill, to relieve the 
Government and the war-power of the country from the 
attitude in which the seizure of these men thus employed 
against the Government would place them, by providing 



MADE FKEE. 13 

the simple penalty, that any man taken in arms against 
the Government is taken as a prisoner of war, whether 
he be black or white or tawny, or whatever may be his 
complexion. Afterwards, when you come to determine 
on an exchange of prisoners, you can determine on what 
terms they should be released. I would have a law by 
which our generals, when they come to settle on the 
release as to prisoners, shall make the release of those 
black men thus employed dependent on the master's los- 
ing all right to them. For such a law, and such a bill, I 
will go most cordially." 

Mr. Stevens (Rep.) of Pennsylvania said, "When a 
country is in open war with an enemy, every publicist 
agrees that you have the right to use every means 
which will weaken him. Vattel says, that in time of 
war, if it be a just war, and there be a people who have 
been oppressed by the enemy, and that enemy be con- 
quered, the victorious party cannot return that oppressed 
people to the bondage from which they have rescued 
them. I wish gentlemen would read what Yattel says 
upon this subject. I wish the gentleman from New York, 
especially, would read the remark of Vattel, that one of 
the most glorious consequences of victory is giving free- 
dom to those who are oppressed." — "I agree to it," 
replied Mr. Diven. "Then how is it," asked Mr. 
Stevens, "that if we are justified in taking property 
from the enemy in war, when you have rescued an 
oppressed people from the oppression of that enemy, by 
what principle of the law of nations, by what principle 
of philanthropy, can you return them to the bondage 
from which you have delivered them, and rivet again 

the chains you have once broken ? It is a disgrace to 

2 



14 SLxVVES USED FOR WAR-PURPOSES 

the party which advocates it. It is against the principle 
of the law of nations. It is against every principle of 
philanthropy. I, for one, shall never shrink from say- 
ing, when these slaves are once conquered by us, 'Go, 
and be free.' God forbid that I should ever agree that 
they should be restored again to their masters ! I 
warn Southern gentlemen, that, if this war is to con- 
tinue, there will be a time when my friend from New 
York (Mr. Diven) will see it declared by this free na- 
tion, that every bondman in the South — belonging to 
a rebel, recollect ; I confine it to them — shall be called 
upon to aid us in war against their masters, and to 
restore this Union." 

On Mr. Pendleton's motion to recommit the bill to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, the House voted, — aj^es 
69, noes 48. Mr. Stevens moved to reconsider the vote 
by which the bill was recommitted. Mr. Kellogg 
moved that the motion be laid on the table. Mr. Bur- 
nett demanded the yeas and nays ; and they were 
ordered, — yeas 71, nays 61. 

On the 3d of August, Mr. Bingham, from the Com- 
mittee on the Judiciary, reported back the Senate bill 
to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes, 
with an amendment, and demanded the previous ques- 
tion on the third reading of the bill. The amendment 
proposed to strike out all of section four of the Senate 
bill after the enacting clause, and insert, — 

" That whenever hereafter, during the insurrection against 
the Government of the United States, any person claimed to be 
held to labor or service under the laws of any State shall 
be required or permitted by the person to wliom such labor 
01 service is claimed to be due, or bv the lawful agent of such 



MADE FREE. 15 

person, to take up arms against the United States, or shall be 
required or permitted by the person to whom such service or 
labor is claimed to be due, or his lawful agent, to work or to 
be employed in or upon any fort, navy-yard, dock, armory, 
ship, or iutrenchment, or in any military or naval service 
whatever, against the Government and lawful authority of 
the United States, then, and in every such case, the person to 
whom such service is claimed to be due shall forfeit his claim 
to such labor, any law of the State or of the United States 
to the contrary notwithstanding ; and, whenever thereafter the 
person claiming such labor or service shall seeft to enforce his 
claim, it shall be a full and sufficient answer to such claim, 
that the person whose service or labor is claimed had been 
employed in hostile service against the Government of the 
United States, contrary to the provisions of this act." 

Ml*. Vallandighain (Dem.) of Ohio called for tellers 
on ordering the previous question : they were ordered, 
the House divided, and the tellers reported, — ayes 53, 
nays 42. INIr. Holman (Dem.) of Indiana moved to 
lay the bill on the table. Mr. Sheffield of Rhode Is- 
land demanded the yeas and nays. Mr. M^Pherson 
(Rep.) of Pennsylvania asked Mr. Holman to withdraw 
the motion to lay on the table, to enable him to move to 
postpone the bill until December next. The question 
w^as taken on Mr. Holman's motion, and lost, — yeas 
47, nays 66. The question recurring on the amend- 
ment of the Committee on the Judiciary, JVIi*. Mal- 
lory (Dem.) of Kentucky moved the House do now 
adjourn, and demanded the yeas and nays ; and they 
were ordered, — yeas 30, nays 75. Mr. Bingham de- 
manded the previous question on the passage of the 
bill ; and it was ordered. Mr. Burnett demanded the 
yeas and nays on the passage of the bill ; and they were 



16 SLAVES MADE FREE. 

ordered. The question was taken, and it was decided 
in the affirmative, — yeas 60, nays 48, — as follows : — 

Yeas. — Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, Ashley, Babbitt, Baxter, 
Beaman, Bingham, Francis P. Blair, Samuel S. Blair, Blake, Buffin- 
ton. Chamberlain, Clark, Colfax, Frederick A. Conkling, Covode, 
Duell, Edwards, Eliot, Fenton, Fessenden, Franchot, Frank, Granger, 
Gurley, Hanchett, Harrison, Hutchins, Juhan, Kelley, Francis W. 
Kellogg, William Kellogg, Lansing, Loomis, Lovejoy, M'Kean, Mitch- 
ell, Justin S. Morrill, Olin, Potter, Alexander H. Rice, Edward H. 
Rolhns, Sedgwick, Sheffield, Shellabarger, Sherman, Sloan, Spauld- 
ing, Stevens, Benjamin F. Thomas, Train, Van Horn, Verree, Wal- 
lace, Charles W. -.Walton, E. P. Walton, Wheeler, Albert S. White, 
and Windom, — 60. 

Nats. — Messrs. Allen, Ancona, Joseph Baily, George H. Browne, 
Burnett, Calvert, Cox, Cravens, Crisfield, Crittenden, Diven, Dunlap, 
Dunn, English, Fouke, Grider, Haight, Hale, Harding, Holman, Hor- 
ton, Jackson, Johnson, Law, May, M'Clernand, M'Pherson, Mallory, 
Menzies, Morris, Noble, Norton, Odell, Pendleton, Porter, Reid, Rob- 
inson, James S. Rollins, Shell, Smith, John B. Steele, Stratton, Fran- 
cis Thomas, Vallandigham, Voorhees, Wadsworth, Webster, and 
Wickhffe,~48. 

So the Senate bill to confiscate the property used for 
insurrectionary purposes, with the provision moved by 
Mr. Trumbull, maldng free the slaves used by the rebel 
forces, amended by the amendment reported by Mr. 
Bingham from the Judiciary Committee, was passed. 
It received the approval of the President on the 6th of 
August, and became, in the words of Mr. Breckin- 
ridge, the first " of a series of acts loosing all bonds." 



17 



CHAPTEK n. 

FUGITIVE SLAVES NOT TO BE RETUKNED BY 
PERSONS IN THE ARMY. 

SURRENDER OF SLAVES COMING WITHIN THE LINES OF THE UNION AR- 
MIES. — MR. LOVE joy's RESOLUTION. — NOTICE OF A BILL BY MR. 
WILSON. — MR. LOVE joy's BILL. — MR. SUMNER'S RESOLUTION. — MR. 
cowan's speech. — RESOLUTION OF MR. WILSON OF IOWA. — BILL OF 
MR. WILSON OF MASSACHUSETTS. — MR. WILSON'S BILL CONSIDERED. 
— MR. SAULSBURY'S MOTION TO POSTPONE INDEFINITELY. — MR. COL- 
LAMER'S amendment. — MR. POWELL'S SPEECH. — MR. COLLAMER'S 
SPEECH. — MR. WILSON'S SPEECH. — MR. PEARCE'S SPEECH. — MR. 
BLAIR'S BILL TO MAKE AN ADDITIONAL ARTICLE OF WAR. — MR. 
BINGHAM'S SPEECH. — MR. VALLANDIGHAM'S MOTION TO LAY THE 
BILL ON THE TABLE. — PASSAGE OF THE HOUSE BILL. — REPORTED 
BY MR. WILSON IN THE SENATE. — MR. DAVIS'S AMENDMENT. — MR. 
SAULSBURY'S AMENDMENT. — MR. m'dOUGALL'S SPEECH. — MR. HOW- 
ARD'S SPEECH. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. — MR. WILSON'S RESOLUTION 
CONCERNING THE SURRENDER OF FUGITIVES. — MR. GRIMES'S AMEND- 
MENT. — MR. GRIMES'S SPEECH. — MR. SUMNER'S SPEECH. — MR. SAULS- 
BURY'S SPEECH. 

IN the outset of the Rebellion, slaves insph-ed by the 
hope of freedom came within the lines of the Union 
armies. Their masters often sought for them within 
the encampments, where they had hoped fbr protection 
and freedom, and demanded their surrender as escaped 
bondmen. While many officers refused to surrender 
these persons claimed as slaves, or to permit slave mas- 
ters to seek for them within their camps, other officers 
readily permitted them or their agents, weaponed for 
violence, to search their camps, seize, bind, and bear 
away their trembling, despairing victims. In many 

2* 



18 FUGITIVE SLAVES NOT TO BE RETURNED 

instances, slaves, who had brought to the officers of the 
Union armies intelligence of great value, were given up 
on the demand of rebel claimants. These slaves surren- 
dered by officers of the army were often most mercilessly 
punished by their enraged masters, whose arms were 
doubtless nerved by the malignity of their hearts toward 
the country and its defenders. This revolting practice 
)f arresting and surrendering fugitives coming within 
the lines of the armies demoralized the soldiers, and 
outrao'ed the moral sense of the nation. 

In the House of Representatives, on the 9th of 
July, 1861, Mr. Lovejoy (Eep.) of Illinois introduced 
the following resolution, and demanded the previous 
question upon its passage : " That, in the judgment 
of this House, it is no part of the duty of the soldiers of 
the United States to capture and return fugitive slaves." 
Mr. Mallory (Dem.) of Kentucky moved to lay it upon 
the table, — yeas Q6, nays 81. The question recurring 
on agreeing to the resolution, Mr. Logan (Dem.) of 
Illinois demanded the yeas and nays, and they were 
ordered, — yeas 93, nays 55. 

In the Senate, on the 4th of December, 1861, Mr. 
Wilson (Rep.) of Massachusetts gave notice of his 
intention to introduce a bill to punish officers and pri- 
vates of the army for arresting, detaining, or delivering 
persons claimed as fugitive slaves. Mr. Lovejoy (Rep.) 
of Illinois, on the 4th of December, introduced a bill 
making it a penal offence for any officer or private of 
the army or navy to capture or return, or aid in the 
captm-e or return of, fugitive slaves. It was read twice, 
and its consideration postponed to the 10th of Decem- 
ber. 



BY PERSONS IN THE ARMY. 19 

In the Senate, on the 17th of December, Mr. Sumner 
(Rep.) of Massachusetts introduced, and asked for its 
immediate consideration, a resolution, — " That the 
Committee on IVlihtary Affairs and the Militia be di- 
rected to consider the expediency of providing, by addi- 
tional legislation, that our national armies shall not be 
employed in the surrender of fugitive slaves." Mr. 
M'Dougall (Dem.) of California objecting, the reso- 
lution went over under the rule ; but it came up for 
consideration the next day, and Mr. Sumner stated that 
he had received communications in regard to the out- 
rages perpetrated in the armies. He said, ^' With these 
communications which I have received, some of an 
official character and others of a private character, I 
have felt that I should not do my duty if I did not call 
the attention of the Senate to this outrage. It must 
be arrested. I am glad to know that my friend and 
colleague, the chairman of the Committee on Military 
Affairs, promises us at once a bill to meet this grievance. 
It ought to be introduced promptly, and to be passed 
at once. Our troops ought to be saved from this 
shame." Mr. Cowan (Eep.) of Pennsylvania appre- 
hended that " there need be no possible difficulty what- 
ever upon this question in any of its aspects." He 
thought " we had nothino- in the world to do with all 
these questions. We send a general," he said, " to 
suppress this insurrection. What is his duty? If he 
meets a negro upon his errand, and that negro is an 
enemy, he treats him as an enemy ; if the negro is a 
friend, he treats him as a friend, and uses him as such. 
Nothing, to my mind, can be simpler. How is he to 
determine the title to that negro? Suppose, Mr. Presi- 



20 • FUGITIVE SLAVES NOT TO BE RETURNED 

dent, you were to go into bis camp, and say, * Sir, here 
is my negro : I want him.' The obvious answer of the 
general is, *My dear sir, that may be all true; I have 
no desire to raise any issues of fact with you : it may be 
that this is your negro ; but I cannot determine that 
question ; I cannot try the title to him ; I am not a 
court; I am not a jury,' — a great n^any of them, in- 
deed, are not even lawyers. How are they to deter- 
mine whether this negro is a slave or not ? They cannot 
determine it ; they have no right to determine it. If 
the master, being a loyal man, in that camp insists, 
and says, 'This is my negro;' I do not know what 
other men might do, but, if I were the general, I would 
say to him, * If this is your negro, your "boy," as you 
call him, — this man that you are educating to civili- 
zation and Christianity, — if he will go with you, if he 
is willing to submit to your guardianship in this behalf, 
take him, in God's name, and» be away with him.' 
Suppose the claimant says, ' He will not go, and I 
want to force him : ' what then? I would say to him, 
'No, you cannot do that; because that presumes that 
I decide the very question which I am incompetent to 
decide. I cannot allow you to use force here, because 
I am the constable of the nation, and I am the reposi- 
tary of its force in this behalf, and you cannot use it.'" 
The resolution was agreed to. 

Mr. Wilson (Eep.) of Iowa, on the 23d of Decem- 
ber, offered the following resolution, and demanded the 
previous question upon it : " That the Committee on 
Military Affairs be requested to report a bill to this 
House for the enactment of an additional article of war, 
whereby all officers in the military service of the United 



BY PERSONS IN THE ARMY. 21 

States shall be prohibited from using any portion of the 
forces under their respective commands for the purpose 
of returning fugitives from service or labor, and provide 
for the punishment of such officers as may violate said 
article by dismissal from the service." Pending the 
question, the House, on the motion of iVIr. Cox (Dem.) 
of Ohio, adjourned, — yeas 58, nays 53. 

IVlr. Wilson (Rep.) of Massachusetts, on the 23d of 
December, introduced a bill in relation to the arrest 
of persons claimed to be held to service or labor by the 
officers of the military and naval service of the United 
States ; which was read twice, and referred to the Com- 
mittee on Military Affiiirs. It declared that officers in 
the military service of the United States have, without 
the authority of law, and against the plainest dictates 
of justice and humanity, caused persons claimed as 
fugitives from service or labor to be seized, held, and 
delivered up ; and that such conduct has brought dis- 
credit upon our arms, and reproach upon our Govern- 
ment ; and it therefore proceeded to enact, that any 
officer in the military or naval service of the United 
States, who shall cause any person, claimed to be held 
to service or labor by reason of African descent, to be 
seized, held, detained, or delivered up to or for any 
person claiming such service or labor, shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be dishonorably 
discharged, and for ever ineligible to any appointment 
in the military or naval service of the United States. 

On the 6th of January, 1862, Mr. Wilson reported 
back his bill from the Committee on Military Affairs, 
with an amendment. On the 7th of January, Mr. 
Wilson called it up ; and the Senate, as in Committee 



22 FUGITIVE SLAVES NOT TO BE RETURNED 

of the Whole, proceeded to its consideration. The 
Committee on Military Affairs reported an amendment 
to strike out all of the original bill, and insert as a 
substitute, " That it shall be unlawful for any officer in 
the military or naval service of the United States to 
cause any person claimed to be held to service or labor 
by reason of African decent to be seized, held, de- 
tained, or delivered up to or for any person claiming 
such service or labor ; and any officer so offending shall 
be discharged from service, and be for ever ineligible to 
any appointment in the military or naval service of the 
United States." Mr. Saulsbury (Dem.) of Delaware 
moved its indefinite postponement, — yeas 13, nays 23. 
On motion of Mr. Carlile (Dem.) of Virginia, it was 
temporarily laid on the table. 

The Senate, on the 16th of January, on motion of 
Mr. Wilson, took from the table and resumed the 
consideration of the bill to punish persons in the mili- 
tary and naval service for arresting and delivering 
fugitive slaves. The pending question being on the 
amendment reported from the Committee on Military 
Affairs to strike out the original bill, and insert the 
amendment as a substitute, Mr. Collamer (Rep.) of 
Vermont said, " Without criticising at all the form of 
expression of the proposed amendment, I offer a substi- 
tute for it, which I send to the Chair, — ^ No officer 
of the army or navy of the United States, or of the 
volunteers or militia in the service of the United States, 
shall assume or exercise any military command or au- 
thority to arrest, detain, hold, or control any person, 
on account of such person being holden to service as of 
African descent ; and any such officer so offending shall 



BY PEESOXS IN THE ARMY. 23 

be dismissed from service.' " IVIr. Wilson accepted the 
amendment proposed by the senator from Vermont. 
Mr. PoAvell said, " This is a very important measure ; 
and, as the amendment of the senator from Vermont 
has only been this moment presented, I ask that the 
bill be postponed, and the amendment be printed, in 
order that we may have some time to look into it.'' — 
"The amendment," replied Mr. AYilson, "is very plain 
and simple : a child can comprehend its import. I 
hope that this important bill, which ought to have been 
passed on the second day of this session, for the honor 
of the country, will not be postponed any longer." — "I 
have drawn up," said Mr. Saulsbury, "very hurriedly, 
an amendment, which I propose to insert as an addi- 
tional section, — 'Nor shall any soldier or officer, under 
like penalty, entice away or detain any person held to 
service or labor in the United States from his or her 
master or owner.'" Mr. Collamer thought the amend- 
ment hardly german to the subject. "I believe," he 
said, " we are generally agreed that there is great im- 
propriety in military men exercising military authority 
within the States, in relation to their internal and mu- 
nicipal affairs : it is very likely to produce collisions, that 
ought to be avoided. . . . The amendment reported by 
the committee made it unlawful for an officer to do any 
thing in regard to the seizure or delivery of a person 
held to service by reason of African descent : it seemed 
to direct the individual action of the man as a man ; 
which is, I think, hardly legitimate and proper on this 
occasion. I do not know but that we have officers in 
our army who are themselves the owners of slaves. 
According to the provision reported by the committee, 



24 FUGITIVE SLAVES NOT TO BE RETURNED 

such an officer could not even arrest his own slave 
under the laws of the State in which he was holden. 
It seems to me, that, in dealing with officers of the 
army, our business is to deal with them in their official 
capacity. Therefore, to strip the subject of all sort of 
question about that, I have drawn and presented the 
amendment which the Senate have adopted, and which, 
I think, should pass into a law, — that no officer shall 
use any military power over this subject. As to his own 
individual action, that is a matter which must be left 
to him." — "If you adopt," said Mr. Saulsbury, "the 
amendment of the senator from Vermont, you make it 
penal for a soldier or officer to return, even to a loyal 
master or owner, his slave ; but you provide no penalty 
against any soldier or any officer for depriving even a 
loyal master of the services of his slave. My amend- 
ment proposes to prohibit, under the same penalty, an 
officer or a soldier of the army from decoying or en- 
ticing away from the service of his master a slave, or 
from harboring a slave." 

Mr. Rice (Dem.) of Minnesota proposed to amend 
Mr. Saulsbury's amendment by adding, " who may be 
a loyal citizen of the United States ; " and the amend- 
ment to the amendment was agreed to. Mr. Collamer 
thought, that, under Mr. Saulsbury's amendment, "if 
any soldier wanted to get dismissed from the service, he 
would have nothing to do but to entice a slave, and 
he would get himself and the slave both dismissed." — 
"I am opposed," said Mr. Wilson, "to this amendment 
in every shape and form, and to any legislation protect- 
ing, covering, or justifying slavery for loyal or disloyal 
masters. The laws on that subject are all that ought 



BY PERSONS IN THE ARMY. 25 

to be given at this time. ^Yhat I want to do is to 
put upon the statute-book of this country a prohibition 
to the officers of the army of the United States from 
arresting, detaining, and delivering up persons claimed 
as fugitives by the use of military power. There is no 
law for it. They have acted in violation of law. 
Some of these officers have dishonored the profession, 
and disgraced the country : and I mean, if God is will- 
ing and I have the power, to reject their confirmation 
here for that reason ; and I give them the notice now." 
IVIr. Pearce (Dem.) of Maryland said, "The senator 
from Massachusetts objects to a proposition which for- 
bids officers and soldiers of the army from enticing, 
harboring, or preventing the recovery — that is the 
amount of it — of a fugitive slave, known to be such, 
upon the application of his master, known to be his 
lawful owner, according to the laws of the State in 
which he lives. What is the effect of that? It is an 
invitation to all the slaves of the State of Maryland, 
who can do so, to resort to the camp, sure of protection 
there, first, because no officer of the army can order 
their delivery up to their master, however loyal or 
however indisputable his title may be to that slave. It 
is an invitation, therefore, to all such people to resort 
to the lines of the army as a harbor of refuge, a place 
of asylum, a spot where they can be safe from the 
operation of the undoubted legal rights of the owner. 
That is the effect of it ; and that is an invitation to the 
whole body of such people, within the loyal State of 
Maryland, to accomplish their freedom by indirection. 
It is not an act of emancipation in its terms ; but so 
far as it can operate, and does operate, it leads directly 

3 



26 FUGITIVE SLAVES NOT TO BE RETURNED 

to that result." The bill was then reported to the 
Senate ; and, pending the question of concurring in 
Mr. Collamer's amendment, the Chair announced the 
special order of the day. 

In the House, Mr. Blair (Rep.) of Missouri, on the 
25th of February, reported from the Committee on 
Military Affairs a bill to make an additional article of 
war. The bill provided, that hereafter the following 
shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for 
the government of the army of tlie United States, and 
shall be obeyed and observed as such : " All officers 
are prohibited from employing any of the forces under 
their respective commands for the purpose of returning 
fugitives from service or labor who may have escaped 
from any persons to whom such service or labor is 
claimed to be due. Any officer who shall be found 
guilty by court-martial of violating this article shall be 
dismissed from the service." Mr. Bingham (Rep.) of 
Ohio moved to add, after the word " officers," the words 
" or persons in the military and naval service of the 
United States ; " and the amendment was agreed to. 
"You," said Mr. Mallory (Dem.) of Kentucky, "are 
deciding, by this article of war, that the President of 
the United States shall not be permitted to send a mili- 
tary force into a State to aid the authorities of that 
State in enforcing a national law which stands on your 
statute-book. I ask the gentleman from Missouri 
whether it is the fixed determination to repeal the Fugi- 
tive-slave Law." — "I do not propose," replied Mr. Blair, 
" to decide the question the gentleman has raised, as to 
whether this bill, if it becomes a law, will repeal the 
Fugitive-slave Law or not. I believe, in common with a 



BY PERSONS IN THE ARMY. 27 

great many others, that the army of the United States 
has a great deal better business than returning fugitive 
slaves.'* Mr. Mallory wished to postpone the bill to 
the third Wednesday in March. Mr. Lovejoy objected 
to ]\Ir. Blair yielding the floor. Mr. Blair would yield 
the floor to Mr. jNIallory for the purpose indicated. 
Mr. Bingham hoped Mr. Blair would not yield the 
floor to allow this bill to be postponed to the end of 
March. He denounced the practice of arresting and 
returning fugitive slaves by oflScers of the army, as " a 
military despotism that the American people should not 
tolerate for a moment, nor lose a moment in ending it 
by the enactment of this bill into a law. I say, that a 
military officer who assumes, wrongfully assumes, to 
exercise the functions of civil magistracy, and under- 
takes to sit upon the right of any human being, born 
within the limits of this Republic, to the possession 
of his own person and his own soul, and against 
whom no offence is charged, is worse than a kidnap- 
per. He has no right to do it ; and, by so doing, 
commits a crime, a great crime. Some of your mili- 
tary officers of high and low degree have been detailing 
their men for the purpose of seizing, and have seized, 
persons not accused of crime, but suspected of the vir- 
tue of preferring liberty to bondage. Are we to revive 
here, in this land, the hated rule of the Athenian ostra- 
cism, by which men were condemned, not because they 
were charged with crime or proved guilty of crime, 
but because they were suspected to possess and practise 
the virtues of justice and patriotism in such degree as 
rendered their presence in the State dangerous to re- 
publican equality? Aristides was condemned because 



28 FUGITIVE SLAVES NOT TO BE RETURNED 

he was just ; and Themistocles, because he was the 
savior of the city. I have read in the papers, and I 
believe it is true, that one of these persons suspected of 
escaping from bondage to liberty swam across the Ohio 
River, making for an encampment upon the Indiana 
shore, where he saw the banner of Liberty flying, which 
he fondly looked upon as consecrating that place, at 
least, as sacred to the rights of person, and where even 
the rights of a hunted bondman would be respected. 
After having been beaten about, bruised and mangled 
against the rocks in the channel of the river, to whose 
rushing waters he committed his life that he might re- 
gain his Hberty, he reached the opposite shore. Some- 
body went into the camp, and reported that this man 
was suspected of the crime of having run away from 
chains and slavery. A company of soldiers, it is said, 
were detailed to seize him, and did seize and return 
him as a slave to the man who claimed him. If that 
practice is to be pm'sued by the army and navy under 
the American flag, it ought to cover with midnight 
blackness every star that burns upon its field of azure, 
and with everlasting infamy the men who dare to dese- 
crate it to such base uses." 

Mr. WicklifFe (Dem.) of Kentucky said, "I see, by 
the evidence which has been furnished, that Gen. Grant 
captured — at Fort Donelson I think it was — twelve 
negro slaves among the prisoners there taken. They 
were returned by him to their loyal owners in Ken- 
tucky, from whom they had been forced by the rebel 
power. Would this bill prevent a military commander 
from the exercise of such a power?" — "I am informed 
by a letter from my neighborhood," said Mr. Grider 



BY PERSONS IN THE ARMY. 29 

(Dem.) of Kentucky," that, within three counties in 
my district, the rebel army have impressed and run off 
slaves to the value of about three hundred thousand 
dollars. Now, sir, does this article of war propose 
that these servants shall not be returned, and shall not 
be intercepted?" Mr. Yallandigham (Dem.) of Ohio 
moved to lay the bill on the table ; upon which Mr. 
Bingham demanded the yeas and nays, — yeas 44, 
nays 87. Mr. Blair demanded the previous question 
upon the bill and amendment ; and it was ordered. 
He did not wish to press the bill to a vote to-night, and 
moved an adjournment ; but the motion was lost, — 
ayes 59, nays 61. The question was taken on the 
passage of the bill, — yeas 83, nays 42. So the bill 
passed the House. 

In the Senate, on the 4th of March, Mr. Wilson 
reported back from the ISIilitary Committee, without 
amendment, the House bill providing for the promul- 
gation of an additional article of war, forbidding officers 
or persons in the military and naval service, on pain of 
dismissal from the service, to arrest or return fugitive 
slaves. Mr. Davis (0pp.) of Kentucky would like to 
offer an amendment, and desired that the bill should 
go over until to-morrow. Mr. Wilson would, with the 
understanding that we take up the bill and act on it 
to-morrow, withdraw his motion to proceed to its con- 
sideration ; and the proposition was assented to. 

On the 10th of March, Mr. Wilson moved to take 
up the bill from the House of Representatives to make 
an additional article of war. The motion was agreed 
to, and the consideration of the bill was resumed as in 
Committee of the Whole. " I move to amend the bill," 

3* 



30 FUGITIVE SLAVES NOT TO BE RETUKNED 

said Mr. Davis, "by inserting after the word ^due,' in 
the eleventh line of the first section, the words, ^ and also 
from detaining, harboring, or concealing any such fugi- 
tives ; * so that the proposed article will read : * All 
officers or persons in the military or naval service of 
the United States are prohibited from employing any 
of the forces under their respective commands for the 
purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor who 
may have escaped from any persons to whom such 
service or labor is claimed to be due, and also from 
detaining, harboring, or concealing any such fugitive.'" 
The yeas and nays were ordered ; and, being taken, 
resulted — yeas 10, nays 29 — as follows: — 

Yeas. — Messrs. Bayard, Carlile, Davis, Henderson, Latham, M'Dou- 
gall, Powell, Rice, Saulsbury, and Wilson of Missouri, — 10. 

Nays. — Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Chandler, Clark, CoUamer, 
Cowan, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Har- 
lan, Harris, Howard, Howe, I^ng, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, 
Morrill, Pomeroy, Sherman, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, 
Wilson of Massachusetts, and Wright, — 29. 

Mr. Saulsbury moved to amend by adding at the end 
of the first section, "That this article shall not apply 
in the States of Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and 
Kentucky, nor elsewhere where the Federal authority 
is recognized or can be enforced." Yeas 7, nays 30. 
"I wish," remarked Mr. Carlile, "to make an inquiry 
of the patron of this bill. The President, under his 
proclamation in April, among other things, called for 
the services of the militia to aid him in the execution 
of the laws. One of the laws upon our statute-book is 
for the return of fugitive slaves. If the President shall 
find it necessary to call upon the military power of the 



BY PERSONS IN THE ARMY. 31 

countiy to enable liim to discharge his sworn duty in 
this respect, — for he swears, as I understand, when he 
enters upon the duties of his office, to see that the laws 
are faithfully executed, — I desire to know if this bill 
will not interfere w^ith that in this particular, and what 
eiFect this bill would have upon any military authorities 
of the country who should obey the call." — " I suppose," 
said Mr. Wilson in reply, " the senator from Virginia 
clearly understands this matter. The case he supposes, 
if I understand it, would be a case where the authorities 
would call out the military for the purpose of enforcing 
the decision of the judicial tribunals, — a mere civil pro- 
cess. The return of fugitive slaves is a civil question, 
a judicial one, not a military one." — "Then," said Mr. 
Carlile, "I am to understand that this will not interfere 
with that? " Mr. M'Dougall said, " It is, I understand, 
a mere measure to prevent the interference of the army 
in these matters. As such, I am prepared to vote for 
it ; but, in voting for it, I wish to say here, that I under- 
stand it to be simply a provision to prevent the interfer- 
ence of army officers in this matter ; not impairing the 
obligation on the part of an army officer, as well as a 
private citizen, to surrender a fugitive from service or 
labor, under the Constitution and laws of the United 
States." The amendment w^as then rejected. Mr. 
Saulsbury said, " I move to amend the bill by in- 
serting after the word ^ due,' in the eleventh line 
of the first section, the words, ^or for the purpose of 
enticing or decoying such persons, held to service or 
labor, from the service of their loyal masters.' I ask 
for the yeas and nays on the amendment." Mr. An- 
thony inquii'ed "if officers of the army, and all other 



32 FUGITIVE SLAVES NOT TO BE KETUKNED 

persons, are not already prohibited from enticing or 
decoying slaves." Mr. Howard replied, " They are, 
by heavy penalties." Mr. Saulsbury remarked, "If 
you say you intend to keep your army aloof from this 
question, but do not intend that they shall return fugi- 
tive slaves, then all I ask of you is, that, when they 
come into a loyal community, it shall not be lawful for 
them, nor for any person acting under Federal author- 
ity, to entice or decoy my slave or the slave of my 
constituents away." — "If he did, I suppose," replied 
Mr. Howard, " he would simply make himself liable to 
the severe and almost inhuman penalties of the fugitive- 
slave law of 1850." Mr. Sherman observed, that "the 
laws of the State would operate also." Mr. Howard 
said he " would be subject also to the penalty prescribed 
by the law of the State where he is. I understand this 
bill as simply prohibiting military men from disgracing 
the uniform they wear, by engaging in the business of 
slave-catching, and delivering slaves to their owners, — 
a disreputable business, in which no gentleman. North 
or South, military or civil, I undertake to say, will 
willingly engage." — "In voting," said Mr. Anthony, 
" against this amendment, which I shall do, I certainly 
do not wish it to be understood that I would vote to 
give any officer the right to entice a slave from a loyal 
master ; but I understand that the law already prohibits 
it : it is already an oiFence, and we are only re-enacting 
another law." Mr. M'Dougall could see no mischief 
in the amendment of the senator from Delaware. The 
question, being taken by yeas and nays, resulted — yeas 
10, nays 29. The bill was then passed, — yeas 29, 
nays 9, — as follows : — 



BY PEKSONS IN THE AEIHY. 33 

Yeas. — Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Chandler, Clark, CoUamer, 
Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Har- 
ris, Howard, Howe, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, M'Dougall, 
Morrill, Pomeroy, Sherman, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, 
Wilson of Massachusetts, and Wright, — 29. 

Nats. — Messrs.' Bayard, Carlile, Davis, Henderson, Latham, Pow- 
ell, Rice, Saulsbury, and Wilson of IVIissouri, — 9. 

So the bill passed, and was approved by the President 
on the 13th of March, 1862. 

The 14th of April, on motion of Mr. Wilson of Massa- 
chusetts, the Senate proceeded to consider the following 
resolution, submitted by him on the 3d of April : "i?e- 
&olved, That the Committee on Military AiFairs and the 
Militia be directed to consider and report whether any fur- 
ther legislation is necessary to prevent persons employed 
in the military service of the United States from aiding 
in the return or control over persons claimed as fugitive 
slaves, and to punish them therefor." — " I propose," said 
Mr. Grimes (Rep.) of Iowa, "to amend the resolution 
by adding to it, ' and to report what re-organization 
of the army, in its personnel or otherwise, may be 
necessary to promote the public welfare, and bring the 
Kebellion to a speedy and triumphant end.'" — "One 
would think," said Mr. Grimes, " that all men would 
agree in pronouncing that a cruel and despotic order 
which repeals the divine precept, * Inasmuch as ye did 
t not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me,' 
and arbitrarily forbids the soldier to bestow a crust of 
bread or a cup of water upon a wretched, famishing fugi- 
tive escaping from our own as well as from his enemy, 
^et, Mr. President, I grieve to say that there are those, 
high in rank in the service of the United States, who 
have sought to break down the spirit of manhood, which 



34 FUGITIVE SLAVES NOT TO BE EETURNED 

is the crowning glory of true soldiers, by requiring them 
to do acts, outside of their profession, which they abhor, 
and to smother all impulses to those deeds of charity 
which they have been taught to believe are the charac- 
teristics of Christian gentlemen. ... It was known to 
the country, at an early day after the commencement 
of the war, that some military commanders were abusing 
the great power intrusted to them, and were employing 
the army to assist in the capture and rendition of fugi- 
tive slaves, not in aid of any judicial process, but in 
obedience to their own unbridled will. The effect of 
this assumption of unauthorized power was to incite the 
soldiery to disobedience, and to arouse the people to 
the necessity of proper legislative restraints. It was 
in compliance with the popular sentiment on this subject 
that Congress enacted the additional article of war, 
which was approved on the 13th of March last. . . . 
In the month of February last, an officer of the third 
regiment of Iowa infantry, stationed at a small town in 
Missouri, succeeded in capturing several rebel bridge- 
burners, and some recruiting officers belonging to Price's 
army. The information that led to their capture was 
furnished by two or three remarkably shrewd and intel- 
ligent slaves, claimed by a lieutenant -colonel in the 
rebel army. Shortly afterwards, the master despatched 
an agent, with instructions to seize the slaves, and con- 
vey them within the rebel lines : whereupon the Iowa 
officer himself seized them, and reported the circum- 
stances to headquarters. The slaves soon understanding 
the full Import of Gen. Halleck's celebrated order 
No. 3, two of them attempted an escape. This was 
regarded as an unpardonable sin. The Iowa officer 



BY PEKSONS m THE AEMY. 35 

was immediately placed under arrest, and a detachment 
of the Missouri State militia — men in the pay of this 
Government and under the command of Gen. Hal- 
leck — were sent in pursuit of the fugitives. The hunt 
was successful. The slaves were caught, and returned 
to their traitor master, but not until one of them had 
been shot by order of the soldier in command of the 
pursuing party. . . . How long, think you, will this 
method of dealing with the rebels be endured by the 
freemen of this country? Are our brothers and sons 
to be conjBned within the walls of the tobacco-warehouses 
and jails of Richmond and Charleston, obliged to per- 
form the most menial offices, subsisted upon the most 
stinted diet, their lives endangered if they attempt to 
obtain a breath of fresh air or a beam of God's sunlis^ht 
at a window, while the rebels captured by those very 
men are permitted to go at large upon parole, to be 
pampered with luxuries, to be attended by slaves, and 
the slaves guarded from escape by our own soldiers ? " 

On the 1st of May, the Senate, on motion of Mr. Wil- 
son, resumed the consideration of the resolution ; the 
pending question being the amendment moved by Mr. 
Grimes. Mr. Sumner was " grateful to the senator 
from Iowa for the frankness with which he exposed 
and condemned the recent orders of our generals.'' 
Mr. Sumner then examined and condemned the orders 
of Generals Hooker, M'Cook, Buel, Halleck, and the 
Provost Marshal of Louisville. He contrasted and 
commended the action of Gen. Doubleday and Gen. 
M'Dowell. He closed his speech by saying, " Sir, we 
are making history now. Every victory adds something 
to that history ; but such an order is worse for us than 



36 FUGITIVE SLAVES NOT TO BE EETUENED 

a defeat. More than any defeat, it will discredit ns 
with posterity, and with the friends of liberal institutions 
in foreign nations. I have said that Gen. Halleck is 
reputed to be an able officer ; but most perversely he 
undoes with one hand what he does with the other. He 
undoes by his orders the good he does as a general. 
While professing to make war upon the Rebellion, he 
sustains its chief and most active power, and degrades 
his gallant army to be the constables of slavery. 
Slavery is the constant rebel and universal enemy. It 
is traitor and belligerent together, and is always to be 
treated accordingly. Tenderness to slavery now is 
practical disloyalty, and practical alliance with the ene- 
my. Against these officers to whom I have referred 
to-day I have no personal unkindness. I should much 
prefer to speak in their praise ; but, sir, I am in earnest. 
While I have the honor of a seat in the Senate, no suc- 
cess, no victory, shall be any apology or any shield to a 
general who undertakes to insult human nature. From 
the midst of his triumphs, I will drag him forward to 
receive the condemnation which such conduct deserves." 
Mr. Saulsbury moved to amend the resolution by adding 
to it, " and what further legislation is necessary to pre- 
vent the illegal capture and imprisonment of the free 
white citizens of the United States." In support of the 
amendment, he said, "But, while we are entertained 
every morning with a narrative of the grievances of the 
black men of this country, the free negroes and the 
slaves of this country, thinking equally as much, and 
— although it may be an infirmity and a weakness at 
the present time to say it — thinking a little more, of 
the free white citizens of my country, I will, in my 



BY PERSONS IN THE ARMY. 37 

place, demand that justice shall be done them, and that 
free white men, who have done nought to injure their 
countrj, to destroy its institutions or its Union, shall 
be protected, and that inquiry shall be made to see if 
further legislation is necessary to secure them in their 
rights." Pending the question, the President called up 
the Confiscation Bill, which was the order of the day : 
the bill went over, and was not again taken up. 



38 



CHAPTER III. 

THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF 

COLUMBIA. 

THE NATIONAL. CAPITAL. — SLAVERY. — MR. WILSON'S RESOLUTION. — 
THE DISTRICT COMMITTEE. — MR. WILSON'S BILL. — MR. MORRILL'S 
REPORT, WITH AMENDMENTS. — MR. WILSON'S BILL TO REPEAL THE 
SLAVE CODE. — COMMITTEE'S AMENDMENTS ADOPTED. — MR. MORRILL'S 
AMENDMENTS. — MR. DAVIS'S AMENDMENTS. — MR. DOOLITTLE'S AMEND- 
MENT. — REMARKS BY MR. DAVIS. — MR. HALE. — MR. DOOLITTLE. — 
MR. POMEROY. — MR. WILLEY. — MR. SAULSBURY. — MR. KING. — MR. 
DAVIS. — MR. WILSON. — MR. KENNEDY. — MR. SAULSBURY. — MR. HAR- 
LAN. — MR. WILKINSON. — MR. SAULSBURY'S AMENDMENT. — MR. SUM- 
NER. — MR. WRIGHT. — MR. FESSENDEN. — MR. DAVIS'S AMENDMENT. 

— MR. CLARK'S AMENDMENT. — MR. WILLEY'S AMENDMENT. — MR. 
CLARK'S AMENDMENT. — MR. DAVIS. — MR. MORRILL. — MR. m'DOU- 
GALL. — MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — MR. WRIGHT'S AMENDMENT. — 
MR. browning's AMENDMENT. — MR. WILMOT. — MR. COLLAMER'S 
AMENDMENT. — MR. DOOLITTLE'S AMENDMENT. — MR. POWELL. — MR. 
BAYARD. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. — HOUSE. — MR. STEVENS'S MOTION. 

— MR. THOMAS. — MR. NOXON. — MR. BLAIR. — MR. CRITTENDEN. — MR. 
RIDDLE. — MR. FESSENDEN. — MR. ROLLINS. — MR. BLAKE. — MR. VAN 
HORNE. — MR. ASHLEY. — MR. HUTCHINS. — MR. WRIGHT'S AMENDMENT. 

— 3IR. HICKMAN. — MR. WADSWORTH. — MR. HARDING'S AMENDMENT. — 
MR. train's amendment. — MR. LOVEJOY. — MR. WICKLIFFE'S AMEND- 
MENT. — MR. HOLMAN'S amendment. — MR. COX. — MR. MENZIES' 
AMENDMENT. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. 

THE first Congress under the Constitution was 
deeply absorbed by the question of the permanent 
location of the seat of the Federal Government. The 
Eastern States would have been content to let it remain 
in New York. Pennsylvania sought to win it back to 
Philadelphia. Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and 
Georgia would fix it on the Potomac. The conflicting 



. THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY, ETC. 39 

claims of sections defeated, in 1789, all propositions 
for the permanent location of the seat of Government ; 
but it was determined at the next session, by three ma- 
jority in the House of Kepresentatives, to locate it on 
the banks of the Potomac. Clothed by the Constitu- 
tion with the " power to exercise exclusive legislation in 
all cases whatsoever" over the District, Congress, in- 
stead of providing a code of humane and equal laws 
for the government of the national capital, enacted, in 
1801, that the laws of Maryland and Virginia should 
continue in force. By this act, the colonial slave- 
codes of Maryland and Virginia were accepted, re- 
affirmed, and re-enacted. Washington and Georgetown 
adopted oppressive and inhuman ordinances for the 
government of slaves and free persons of color. For 
half a century the slave-trade was carried on, to the 
lasting dishonor of the nation ; and for two generations 
the public men of the country were surrounded by an 
atmosphere tainted by the breath of the slave, and by 
the blinding and perverting influences of the social life 
of slaveholding society. 

On the 4th of December, 1861, after the announce- 
ment of the Standing Committees of the Senate, Mr. 
AYilson (Rep.) of Massachusetts introduced a resolu- 
tion, that all laws in force relating to the arrest of 
fugitives from ser\dce, and all laws concerning persons 
of color, within the District, be referred to the Commit- 
tee on the District of Columbia ; and that the committee 
be instructed to consider the expediency of abolishing 
slavery in the District, with compensation to loyal 
holders of slaves. The committee to whom the reso- 
lution was referred consisted of Mr. Grimes (Rep.) of 



40 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 

Iowa, Mr. Dixon (Eep.) of Connecticut, Mr. Morrill 
(Eep.) of Maine, Mr. Wade (Rep.) of Ohio, Mr. 
Anthony (Rep.) of Rhode Island, Mr. Kennedy 
(Dem.) of Maryland, and Mr. Powell (Dem.) of 
Kentucky. Mr. Grimes, chairman of the committee, 
Mr. Morrill, and Mr. Wade, were recognized by their 
associates and by the country as thorough and uncom- 
promising opponents of slavery in every form. Mr. 
Dixon and Mr. Anthony were fair representatives of 
the feelings and views of conservative Republicanism. 
Mr. Kennedy came into the Senate a type of the 
moderate, conservative, respectable Whigism of the 
Border slave States ; but was soon borne, like many 
others of that halting, timid school, by the current of 
events, into the ranks of Democracy. Mr. Powell was 
an original Democrat, of the faith and creed of the 
slaveholding school, and an earnest, bold, and adroit 
advocate of its policy. In moving the reference of his 
resolution to this committee, Mr. Wilson expressed the 
hope that the chairman " would deal promptly with the 
question." 

Mr. Wilson of Massachusetts, on the 16th of De- 
cember, obtained leave to introduce a bill for the release 
of certain persons held to service or labor in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia ; which was read twice, and ordered 
to be printed. The bill provided for the immediate 
emancipation of the slaves, for the payment to their 
loyal owners of an average sum of three hundred dollars, 
for the appointment of a commission to assess the sum 
to be paid, and the appropriation of one million of dol- 
lars. On the 2 2d of December, on the motibn of Mr. 
Wilson, the bill was referred to the District Committee. 



IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 41 

Mr. Morrill, on the 13tli of February, 1862, re- 
ported back from the Committee on the District of 
Columbia the bill, introduced by Mr. Wilson on the 
16th of December, for the release of certain persons 
held to service or labor in the District of Columbia, 
with amendments. Mr. Wilson, on the 24th of Feb- 
ruary, introduced a bill to repeal certain laws and 
ordinances in the District of Columbia relating to per- 
sons of color, and moved its reference to the District 
Committee. This bill proposed to repeal the act of 
Congress extending over the District the laws of Mary- 
land concerning persons of color, to annul and abrogate 
those laws, to repeal the acts giving the cities of Wash- 
ington and Georgetown authority to pass ordinances 
relating to persons of color, to abrogate those ordi- 
nances, and to make persons of color amenable to the 
same laws to which free white persons are amenable, 
and to subject them to the same penalties and punish- 
ments. Mr. Wilson briefly recited the laws and ordi- 
nances it was intended to repeal and abrogate. Mr. 
Wilmot (Rep.) of Pennsylvania thought the Senate 
should act promptly upon the bill for the abolition of 
slavery in the District. "We should be the most 
derelict in our duty of any body that ever sat in the 
seats of power, if we adjourn this Congress without 
the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia." 
Mr. Wilson would say to the senator from Pennsylvania, 
that the bill was very carefully prepared ; that it had 
been reported, with very slight amendments, by the 
committee ; and that it should be taken up for action at 
an early day. "The bill," he said, "which I have in- 
troduced this morning, is only following up that bill, 

4* 



42 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 

and repealing the black code of the District, — the laws 
applicable to persons of color in the District. It is a 
necessary bill to be passed also ; and I hope, when we 
have done that, we shall go a step further, and offer to 
the State of Maryland the same terms that we offer to 
the people of the District, and clear this thing out of 
our neighborhood." 

On the 27th of February, the Senate, on motion of 
Mr. Morrill, made the bill for the abolition of slavery 
in the District the special order for the 5th of March. 
The bill on the 12th, on motion of Mr. Morrill, was 
taken up ; and the Senate, as in Committee of the 
Whole, proceeded to its consideration. The amend- 
ments reported by the committee were agreed to : and 
Mr. Morrill then moved to add an amendment, that no 
claim shall be paid for any slave brought into the Dis- 
trict after the passage of the act, or which originates in 
or by virtue of any transfer heretofore made, or which 
shall hereafter be made, by any person who has in any 
manner aided or sustained the Rebellion against the 
Government of the United States ; and it was agreed 
to. Mr. Morrill moved still further to amend the bill 
by adding, that any person who shall kidnap or in any 
manner transport out of said District any person dis- 
charged or freed by the provisions of this act, or any 
free person, with intent to re-enslave or sell such per- 
son into slavery, or shall re-enslave any of said persons, 
the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a 
misdemeanor ; and, on conviction, shall be imprisoned 
in the penitentiary not less than five nor more than 
twenty years. Mr. Howard (Rep.) of Michigan 
w ould strike out " misdemeanor," and insert " felony." 



IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 43 

Mr. Morrill accepted the suggestion ; and the amend- 
ment as modified was agreed to. Mr. Morrill then 
moved that all acts of Congress and all laws of the 
State of Maryland in force in said District, and all 
ordinances of the cities of Washington or Georgetown, 
inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby 
repealed ; and the amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. Davis (0pp.) of Kentucky moved to add as a 
new section, that all persons liberated under this act 
shall be colonized out of the limits of the United States ; 
and the sum of a hundred thousand dollars, out of any 
money, shall be expended, under the direction of the 
President of the United States, for that purpose. Mr. 
Doolittle (Rep.) of Wisconsin "understood the effect 
of this amendment to be to colonize them , whether they 
are willing to be colonized or not. If the amendment 
of the senator was to offer to appropriate the sum of a 
hundred thousand dollars to be used for transporting 
and colonizing such of the free colored persons of this 
District as might desire to be colonized, I should vote 
for the amendment ; but, as it is, I cannot vote for it." 
INIr. Davis thought he was " better acquainted with 
negro nature than the honorable senator from Wiscon- 
sin. He will never find one slave in a hundred that 
will consent to be colonized when liberated. The liber- 
ation of the slaves in this District and in any State of 
the Union will be just equivalent to settling them in 
the country where they live ; and whenever that policy 
is inaugurated, especially in the States where there are 
many slaves, it will inevitably and immediately intro- 
duce a war t)f extermination between the two races. . . . 
The neoToes that are now liberated, and that remain in 



44 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVEEY 

this city, will become a sore and a burden and a charge 
upon the white population. They will be criminals. 
They will become paupers. They will be engaged in 
crimes and in petty misdemeanors. They will become 
a charge and a pest upon this society ; and the power 
wdiich undertakes to liberate them ought to relieve 
the white community in which they reside, and in 
which they will become a pest from their presence." 
Mr. Davis emphatically asserted, that " whenever any 
power, constitutional or unconstitutional, assumes the 
responsibility of liberating slaves where slaves are nu- 
merous, they establish, as inexorably as fate, a conflict 
between the races, that will result in the exile or the 
extermination of the one race or the other. I know it. 
We have now about two hundred and twenty-five thou- 
sand slaves in Kentucky. Think you, sir, that wg 
should ever submit to have those slaves manumitted and 
left among us? No, sir; no, never: nor will any 
white people in the United States of America, w^here 
the slaves are numerous. If, by unconstitutional legis- 
lation, you should, by laws which you shrink from sub- 
mitting to the tests of constitutionality in your courts 
of justice, liberate them, without the intervention of the 
courts, the moment you re-organize the white inhabitants 
of those States as States of the Union, they would re- 
duce those slaves again to a state of slavery, or they 
would expel them and drive them upon you or south of 
you, or they would hunt tliem like beasts, and extermi- 
nate them. ... I know what I talk about. Mr. Presi- 
dent, the loyal people of the slave States are as true to 
this Union as any man in the Senate Chamber or in 
any of the free States : but never, never, will they 



IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 45 

submit, by unconstitutional laws, to have their slaves 
liberated and to remain domiciled among them ; and the 
policy that attempts it will establish a bloody La Vendee 
in the whole of the slave States, my own included." 

On the 18th, the bill was taken up, the pending 
question being Mr. Davis's amendment ; and Mr. Doo- 
little proposed to amend the amendment, so as to make 
it read, "with then' own consent." Mr. Hale (Rep.) 
of New Hampshire delivered an earnest and effective 
speech for the passage of the bill. " I may remark," 
he said, "that, of all the forms scepticism ever as- 
sumed, the most insidious, the most dangerous, and 
the most fatal, is that which suggests that it is unsafe 
to perform plain and simple duty, for fear that disas- 
trous consequences may result therefrom. This ques- 
tion of emancipation, wherever it has been raised in 
this country, so far as I know, has rarely ever been 
argued upon the great and fundamental principles of 
right. The inquiry is never put, certainly in legislative 
circles. What is right? what is just? what is due to 
the individuals that are to be affected by the measure ? 
but, What are to be the consequences ? Men entu^ely 
forget to look at the objects that are to be effected by 
the bill, in view of the inherent rights of their man- 
hood, in view of the great questions of humanity, of 
Christianity, and of duty ; but what are to be the con- 
sequences ; what is to be its effect upon the price of 
sugar, tobacco, cotton, and other necessaries and luxu- 
ries of life. The honorable senator from Kentucky 
looks upon it in that point of view entirely. . . . But 
now, sir, let me close by reading to the senator from 
Kentucky predictions of the consequences that will fol- 



46 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 

low emancipation, exceedingly diiFerent from those which 
he has predicted. He predicts pauperism, degradation, 
crime, burdens upon society. That is the dark picture 
which fills his imagination as the consequences that are 
to follow the putting- away of oppression from the 
midst of us. Let me read to him a different predic- 
tion : — 

" ^ 6. Is not this the fast that I have chosen ? — to loose 
the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to 
let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke ? 

" ' 7. Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that 
thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house ? When 
thou seest the naked, that thou cover him ; and that thou hide 
not thyself from thine own flesh ? ' 

"What are to be the consequences? Not pauperism, 
degradation, and crime, but, — 

" ' 8. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and 
thine health shall spring forth speedily ; and thy righteousness 
shall go before thee. The glory of the Lord shall be thy 
rearward. 

" ' 9. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer ; 
thou shalt cry, and he shall say. Here I am. If thou take 
away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting-forth of the 
finger, and speaking vanity ; 

" ' 10. And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and 
satisfy the afflicted soul ; then shall thy fight rise in obscu- 
rity, and thy darkness be as the noonday. 

" ' 11. And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy 
thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones ; and thou shalt 
be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose 
waters fail not. 

"'12. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old 
waste places. Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many 



m THE DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. 47 

generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the 
breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.' — Isa., ch. 58. 

" Now, sir, this nation has an opportunity, if I may 
say so, — and I say it reverently, — of putting the 
Almighty to the test, and of seeing whether the conse- 
quences that his prophet has foretold or his senator has 
predicted will follow as the result of this measure." 

Mr. Doolittle then addressed the Senate in advocacy 
of the policy of colonizing persons made free by the 
enactment of the pending bill. Mr. Pomeroy (Rep.) 
of- Kansas followed in decided opposition to the policy 
of making compensation to the masters for the slaves 
to be emancipated by the passage of the measure. "I 
am really," he declared, " a friend to the bill ; and 
I desire at the proper time — I believe it is not in order 
now — to propose an amendment, striking out all of the 
bill, except the first and eighth sections. The first 
section of the bill extends over this District the ordi- 
nance of 1787 ; and I think there is no doubt as to the 
effect of that. The eighth section simply prohibits 
men from taking colored persons out of the District to 
sell them after they have been made free. The first 
section frees them : the eighth section prevents their 
being kidnapped. I do not know what necessity there 
is for any further provision in the bill." Mr. Willey 
(Union) of Virginia addressed the Senate on the 20th, 
in opposition to the measure. " This bill," he asserted, 
" is a part of a series of measures already initiated, all 
looking to the same ultimate result, — the universal 
abolition of slavery by Congress." 

The Senate resumed, on the 24th, the consideration 
of the bill ; the pending question being INIr. Doolittle 's 



48 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 

amendment to Mr. Davis's amendment. Mr. Sauls- 
bury (Dem.) of Delaware was in favor, if the slaves 
were liberated, of colonizing tliem ; yet, not believing 
that Congress has any constitutional power either to 
pass a bill to liberate the slaves in the District or to 
appropriate money to colonize them, he should vote 
against the amendment and the bill. Mr. King (Kep.) 
of New York " did intend to vote for this bill ; and I 
prefer to vote for it in the simplest shape in which it can 
be presented. Although I am disposed to look with 
favor upon the proposition submitted by the senator 
from Wisconsin, when this subject comes to be consid- 
ered upon a more extended scale ; yet, as it relates 
merely to the District, I am inclined to vote against any 
amendments which go to extend the character of the bill 
beyond a simple proposition to emancipate the negroes 
in the District." The question being taken on Mr. 
Doolittle's amendment to Mr. Davis's amendment, it 
was agreed to, — yeas 23, nays 16. The question on 
Mr. Davis's amendment as amended was then taken, — 
yeas 19, nays 19 : so it was lost. 

Mr. Davis then addressed the Senate at great length 
in opposition to the bill. " You have originated," he 
said, "in the North-east, Mormonism and free love, and 
that sort of ethereal Christianity that is preached by 
Parker and by Emerson and by others, and all sorts of 
mischievous isms ; but what right have you to force 
your isms upon us ? What right have you to force your 
opinions upon slavery or upon any other subject on an 
unwilling people ? What right have you to force them 
on the people of this District ? Is it from your love for 
the slaves, your devotion to benevolence and humanity, 



IX THE DISTEICT OF COLIDIBIA. 49 

your belief in the equality of the slaves with yourselves ? 
Why do you not go out into this city, and hunt up the 
blackest, gi'easiest, fattest old negro wench you can find, 
and lead her to the altar of Hymen ? You do not be- 
lieve in any such equality ; nor do I, Yet your emis- 
saries proclaim here that the slaves, when you liberate 
them, shall be citizens, shall be eligible to office in this 
city. A few days ago, I saw several negroes thronging 
the open door, listening to the debate on this subject ; 
and I suppose, in a few months, they will be crowding 
white ladies out of these ofalleries." 

Mr. Wilson of Massachusetts, on the 25th, addressed 
the Senate in favor of the bill he had introduced early 
in the session. " This bill, to give liberty to the bond- 
man," he said, "deals justly, ay, generously, by the 
master. The American people, whose moral sense has 
been outraged by slavery and the black codes enacted in 
the interests of slavery in the District of Columbia, 
whose fame has been soiled and dimmed by the deeds of 
cruelty perpetrated in their national capital, would stand 
justified in the forum of nations if they should smite 
the fetter from the bondman, regardless of the desires 
or interests of the master. With generous magnanimity, 
this bill tenders compensation to the master out of the 
earnings of the toihng freemen of America. ... In 
what age of the world, in what land under the whole 
heavens, can you find any enactment of equal atrocity 
to this iniquitous and profligate statute, this Megal pre- 
sumption ' that color is evidence that man, made in the 
image of God, is an 'absconding slave'? This mon- 
strous doctrine, abhorrent to every manly impulse of 
the heart, to every Christian sentiment of the soul, to 

5 



50 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 

every deduction of human reason, which the refined, hu- 
mane, and Christian people of America have upheld for 
two generations, which the corporation of Washington 
enacted into an imperative ordinance, has borne its 
legitimate fruits of injustice and inhumanity, of dishonor 
and shame. Crimes against man, in the name of this 
abhorred doctrine, have been annually perpetrated in 
this national capital, which should make the people of 
America hang their heads in shame before the nations, 
and in abasement before that Being who keeps watch 
and ward over the humblest of the children of men. . . . 
Here the oath of the black man affords no protection 
whatever to his property, to the fruits of his toil, to the 
personal rights of himself, his wife, his children, or his 
race. Greedy avarice may withhold from him the 
fruits of his toil, or clutch from him his little acquisi- 
tions ; the brutal may visit upon him, his wife, his 
children, insults, indignities, blows ; the kidnapper may 
enter his dwelling, and steal from his hearthstone his 
loved ones ; the assassin may hover on his track, im- 
perilhng his household ; every outrage that the depravity 
of man can visit upon his brother man may be perpe- 
trated upon him, upon his family, his race : but his oath 
upon the Evangelists of Almighty God, though his 
name may be written in the Book of Life, neither pro- 
tects him from wrong, nor punishes the wrong-doer. 
This Christian nation, in solemn mockery, enacts that 
the free black men of America shall not bear testimony 
in the judicial tribunals of the District of Columbia. 
Although the black man is thus mute and dumb before 
the judicial tribunals of the capital of Christian Ame- 
rica, his wrongs we have not righted here will go up to 



IN THE DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. 51 

a higher tribunal, where the oath of the proscribed 
negro is heard, and his story registered by the pen of 
the recordino; anofel. . . . These colonial statutes of 
Maryland, re-affirmed by Congress in 1801 ; these ordi- 
nances of Washington and Georgetown, sanctioned in 
advance by the authority of the Federal Government, — 
stand this day unrepealed. Such laws and ordinances 
shoidd not be permitted longer to insult the reason, per- 
\ert the moral sense, or offend the taste, of the people 
of America. Any people mindful of the decencies of 
life would not longer permit such enactments to linger 
before the eye of civilized man. Slavery is the prolific 
mother of those monstrous enactments. Bid slavery 
disappear from the District of Columbia, and it will 
take along with it this whole brood of brutal, vulgar, 
and indecent statutes. . . . This bill for the release 
of persons held to services or labor in the District of 
Columbia, and the compensation of loyal masters from 
the treasury of the United States, was prepared after 
much reflection and some consultation with others. The 
Committees on the District of Columbia, in both Houses, 
to whom it was referred, have agreed to it, with a few 
amendments calculated to carry out more completely its 
original purposes and provisions. I trust that the bill 
as it now stands, after the adoption of the amendments 
proposed by the senator from Maine (Mr. Morrill), 
will speedily pass without any material modifications. 
If it shall become the law of the land, it will blot out 
slavery for ever from the national capital, transform 
three thousand personal chattels into freemen, obliterate 
oppressive, odious, and hateful laws and ordinances, 
which press with merciless force upon persons, bond or 



52 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVEEY 

free, of African descent, and relieve the nation from the 
responsibilities now pressing upon it. An act of bene- 
ficence like this will be hailed and applauded by the 
nations, sanctified bv justice, humanity, and religion, 
by the approving voice of conscience, and by the bless- 
ing of Him who bids us ^ break every yoke, undo the 
heavy burden, and let the oppressed go free.' " 

"Why," asked Mr. Kennedy of Maryland, "seek to 
impose upon us principles and measures of policy which 
we do not want, and which tend only to still further 
derange and embarrass us, — tend further to surround 
us with complicated questions from which we have no 
escape ? Why not allow us to work out our own des- 
tiny, and to accommodate ourselves as best we can to 
the disadvantages which this unhappy revolution has 
thrown around us ? . . . What possible benefit can occur 
to the North by the abolition of slavery in this District, 
when it is to be so deleterious and so injurious in its 
results to a sister State of this Union ? What earthly 
consideration of good is to result to the people of the 
North, that does not bring a tenfold corresponding evil, 
not only upon the people here, but upon the people of 
my State?" 

Mr. Saulsbury moved to amend by inserting as a new 
section, that "the persons liberated under this act shall, 
within thirty days after the passage of the same, be 
removed, at the expense of the Federal Government, 
into the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachu- 
setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, 
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, Ore- 
gon, and California ; and that said persons shall be 



IX THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 53 

distributed to and among the said States, joro rata, 
according to the population of the same." " If it is the 
spirit of philanthropy and a love of freedom," he said, 
" that prompts you gentlemen to set these three thous- 
and slaves in the District of Columbia free, render that 
philanthropy and that love of freedom sublime in the 
sight of all human kind by taking into your own em- 
brace, in your own midst, the slaves thus liberated. 
Prove that you are sincere." 

"I regret," said ]Mr. Harlan (Rep.) of Iowa, "very 
much that senators depart so far from the proprieties, 
as I consider it, of this Chamber, as to make the allu- 
sions they do. It is done merely to stimulate a preju- 
dice which exists against a race already trampled under 
foot. I refer to the allusions to white people embracing 
colored people as their brethen, and the invitations by 
senators to w^hite men and white women to marry col- 
ored people. Now, sir, if we were to descend into an 
investigation of the facts on that subject, it w^ould bring 
the blush to the cheeks of some of these gentlemen. I 
once had occasion to direct the attention of the Senate 
to an illustrious example from the State of the senator 
who inquired if any of us would marry a greasy old 
wench. It is history, that an illustrious citizen of his 
State, who once occupied officially the chair that you, 
sir, now sit in, lived notoriously and publicly with a 
negro wrench, and raised children by her. ... I re- 
fer to a gentleman who held the second office in the 
gift of the American people ; and I never yet have 
heard a senator on this floor denounce the conduct and 
the association of that illustrious citizen of our country. 
I know of a family of colored or mulatto children, — the 

5* 



54 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 

children, too, of a gentleman who very recently occu- 
pied a seat on the other side of the Chamber, — who are 
now at school in Ohio ; yes, sir, the cliildren of a 
senator, who very recently, not to exceed a year since, 
occupied a seat on this floor, a senator from a slave 
State. I do not desire to consume the time of the 
Senate and of the country in calling attention to these 
acts ; it is humiliating enough to know that they exist : 
but, if senators who represent slaveholding States will 
perpetually drag this subject to the attention of the Sen- 
ate and of the country, let them take the logic? J conse- 
quences of their own folly, and bear the shame which 
an investigation of facts must inflict on themselves and 
their constituents." 

Mr. Saulsbury followed in reply to Mr. Harlan, and 
closed by saying, "Senators, abandon now, at once 
and for ever, your schemes of wild philanthropy and 
universal emancipation ; proclaim to the people of this 
whole country everywhere, that you mean to preserve 
the Union established by Washington and Jefferson 
and ]Madison and the fathers of the Republic, and the 
rights of the people as secured by that glorious instru- 
ment which they helped to frame, and your Union 
never can be destroyed : but go on with your wild 
schemes of emancipation, throw doubt and suspicion 
upon every man simply because he fails to look at your 
questions of wild philanthropy as you do, and the God 
of heaven only knows, after wading through scenes be- 
fore which even the horrors of the French revolution 
'pale their ineffectual fires,' what ultimately may be the 
result." 

Mr. Wilkinson (Eep.) of Minnesota addressed the 



EST THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 55 

Senate, on the 26th of March, in an earnest and elo- 
quent speech in favor of the bill. " If there be a place 
upon the face of the earth," he said, "where human 
slavery should be proliibited, and where every man 
should be protected in the rights which God and Nature 
have given him, that place is the capital of this great 
Republic. It is an insult to the enligntened public sen- 
timent of the age, that those who meet here from the 
free States of the Union, and the representatives of the 
free governments of the earth, — lovers of liberty, — 
should be compelled, in the capital of this free Republic, 
daily to witness the disg-usting and shocking barbarities 
which a state of human slavery continually presents to 
their view. It is a shame, that here, upon common 
ground, the representatives of the loyal and free North, 
those who have never failed to discharge every duty to 
their country, should be treated with contumely and 
contempt, and even hissed, as they have been in the 
Capitol of the nation and in the galleries of the Senate, 
by the slaveholding influence of this District." At the 
close of Mr. Wilkinson's speech, the vote was taken on 
Mr. Saulsbury's proposition to colonize the liberated 
slaves among the loyal States, and it was unanimously 
rejected ; Mr. Saulsbury finally voting against his own \ 
amendment. 

On Monday, the 31st of March, the Senate resumed 
the consideration of the bill ; and Mr. Sumner addressed 
the Senate in an elaborate and eloquent speech in favor 
of its speedy passage. He said, " Mr. President, with 
unspeakable delight I hail this measure, and the prospect 
of its speedy adoption. ... It is the first instalment of 
that great debt which we all owe to an enslaved race, 



56 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 

and will be recognized in history as one of the victories 
of humanity. At home, throughout our own country, it 
will be welcomed with gratitude ; while abroad it will 
quicken the hopes of all who love freedom. Liberal 
institutions will gain everywhere by the abolition of 
slavery at the national capital. Nobody can read that 
slaves were once sold in the markets of Rome, beneath 
the eyes of the sovereign pontiff, without confessing the 
scandal to religion, even in a barbarous age ; and no- 
body can hear that slaves are now sold in the markets 
of Washington, benealh the eyes of the President, with- 
out confessing the scandal to liberal institutions. For 
the sake of our good name, if not for the sake of justice, 
let the scandal disappear. . . . Amidst all present solici- 
tudes, the future cannot be doubtful. At the national 
capital, slavery will give way to freedom : but the good 
work will not stop here ; it must proceed. What God 
and Nature decree, rebellion cannot arrest. And as the 
whole wide-spread tyranny begins to tumble, — then, 
above the din of battle, sounding from the sea and 
echoing along the land, above even the exultations of 
victory on well-fought fields, will ascend voices of glad- 
ness and benediction, swelling from generous hearts 
wherever civilization bears sway, to commemorate a 
sacred triumph, whose trophies, instead of tattered ban- 
ners, will be ransomed slaves." 

On the 1st of April, Mr. Wright (Union) of Indiana 
spoke in opposition to the enactment of the measure. 
He had presented a bill for the abolition of slavery in 
the District of Columbia, being in substance the measure 
proposed by Mr. Lincoln in 1848. It provided for the 
gradual extinction of slavery. He thought, " if slavery 



IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 57 

was let alone, there would be no slavery here in ten 
years." The pending question being the amendment 
offered by Mr. Pomeroy " to settle the account between 
master and slave," he said he had offered the amendment 
in good faith, as a friend of the measure, so that "the 
commission could weigh out justice, give compensation 
where it was due." — "The fundamental law of the land*" 
declared Mr. Fessenden (Rep.) of Maine, "is broad 
and clear. We need no excuse on the subject at all. 
Congress, under the Constitution, is gifted with all 
power of legislation over this District, and may do any 
thing in it that any legislature can do in any State of 
the Union, unless expressly restrained by the Consti- 
tution which gives it its powers ; and there being a 
specific grant of all powers of legislation in this Dis- 
trict, and there being no restraint upon it which would 
touch the question, it follows as a matter of necessity that 
the constitutional power exists ; and it includes as well 
the power to vote money. . . . This question of the 
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, I have 
stated, has been one that has always been near to my 
heart. Gentlemen say it is a bad time to take it up : 
it will be attended with injury. With regard to one 
point of injury, I have spoken ; but do gentlemen 
believe any other injury is to follow ? Whom do we 
injure ? The slaves ? The slave will bear the injury. 
Do we injure the owner ? What claim have the owners 
of slaves in the District of Columbia upon us ? They 
have, in my judgment, been holding slaves here without 
law since the foundation of the Government ; and they 
have been able to do it, because it has been in their 
power to secure a majority always in Congress which 



58 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVEKY 

was invincible, that could not be overcome." Mr. 
Davis moved to strike out the proviso to the third 
section, limiting the average sum to be paid to three 
hundred dollars, — yeas 11, nays 30. 

Mr. Browning (Rep.) of Illinois "never doubted the 
existence of the power in Congress, under the Consti- 
tution, to pass this or any other legislative measure 
affectino; the District of Columbia. The tyrant of 
power is as broad and ample as it is possible for our 
language to make it." Mr. Clark (Rep.) of New 
Hampshire moved an amendment of eleven sections, 
as a substitute for the original bill. "I do not pro- 
pose this amendment," he said, "for the purpose of 
impeding the passage of the bill, or of impeding the 
abolition of slavery in this District. I desire to accom- 
plish it. It is a measure to which I gave my heart 
long ago, and it is a measure to which I am ready 
and desu-ous to give my hand now. I do it with the 
intention of offering to the Senate a better bill, as I 
conceive it to be." Mr. Morrill, in reply to Mr. Clark, 
asserted " that this bill originally, as submitted to the 
committee, was prepared with very great care, and it 
has received the best consideration that the committee 
was able to bestow upon it ; and I will say to my hon- 
orable friend who criticises the original bill, and who 
thinks that his is much better, that there was not a 
single question to which he alludes that did not receive 
the attention of the committee ; and, if I understand the 
bill of the committee, there is not a single provision of 
his bill but is provided for in the bill of the com- 
mittee, except the feature of referring it to the Court 
of Claims." JMr. Willey proposed to amend Mr. Clark's 



IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 59 

amendment so as to submit the bill to the legal voters 
of the District. Mr. Willey averred that he intended 
to vote for the President's resolution tenderinsf the aid 
of the Government to the loyal States. "It meets," 
he said, "my approbation ; and the more I think about 
it, the more I believe it is correct, and that it will be 
a balm to heal the bleeding wounds of our country at 
last." — " If we are going," said Mr. Pomeroy, " to leave 
this question to the people to vote upon it, I insist that 
the senator from Virginia should amend his amendment 
by striking out at least two words, 'free white.' If he 
will strike out those two words, and let every person 
who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years vote, 
there will at least be fairness in submitting this question 
to a vote of the people. As the question affects both 
parties alike, and as it is as much for the interest of the 
colored man as the white man, I should like to know 
why he may not vote on it." Mr. Willey's amendment 
was rejected, — yeas 13, nays 24. 

Mr. Clark moved to strike out the third section of 
the original bill, and insert a new section in lieu of it. 
This amendment was advocated by Mr. Clark, opposed 
by Mr. Morrill, and rejected. Mr. Wright, on the 
2d of April, presented the memorial of the Board of 
Aldermen of Washington, expressing " the opinion that 
the sentiment of a large majority of the people of this 
community is adverse to the unqualified abolition of 
slavery in this District at the present critical junctm-e in 
our national affairs." 

Mr. Davis of Kentucky made a very long, desultory 
harangue against the bill and all kindred measures. 
"Massachusetts," he said, "was the hot-bed, the very 



60 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 

place of origin, of every political heresy that has been 
set u]y in any part of the country. ... I hardly know 
of any pohtical, religious, or social mischievous and 
noxious ism but what had its origin in Massachusetts. 
... It has been frequently inquired, ^ What brought 
about this war ? ' I shall not enter into that subject at 
any length ; but I will tell you what I religiously be- 
lieve, — that the States of Massachusetts and South 
Carolina and their mischievous isms have done more to 
bring about our present troubles than all other causes." 

Mr. Morrill said in reply, that " the sentiments which 
the honorable senator puts forth here are sentiments 
directly adverse to the principles of the common law. 
I know they are opinions and principles reaching far 
back into the early period of the world ; but allow me 
to say to the honorable senator, they are barbarian in 
their origin. They were never inculcated and never 
adopted in civilized nations. Where civilization has 
advanced, where the doctrines of Christian civiHzation 
are recognized, these notions are held to be antiquated, 
barbarian ; and they do not enter into the jurisprudence 
of any civiHzed or Christian nation on the globe." 

Mr. M'Dougall, on the 3d, addressed the Senate in 
an elaborate speech in opposition to the measure ; and 
Mr. Ten. Eyck preferred a system of gradual emanci- 
pation, but would vote for the original bill as amended. 
He was not sure but the postponement of the measure 
until the Border slave States have acted on the Presi- 
dent's proposition would cure the evil. " If Maryland 
and Delaware should votfe to abolish slavery according 
to the plan proposed by the President and the resolution 
we passed yesterday, slavery in this District would 



IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 61 

speedily die out of itself. Like an exhausted candle, it 
would flicker in its socket, and soon be gone for ever, 
and not a single wave of popular feeling be created to 
disturb or agitate the surrounding sections of country 
interested in the institution." Mr. Sumner moved to 
amend, by introducing in the fifth section, after the 
words " courts of justice," the words " without the ex- 
clusion of any witness on account of color." ]\Ir. 
Morrill said the bill provided that the claimant may 
be summoned before the commissioners, and that the 
party for whose service compensation is claimed may 
testify ; but the amendment extends that to other per- 
sons, and he did not object to it. On motion of Mr. 
Saulsbury, the yeas and nays were taken on Mr. Sum- 
ner's amendment, — yeas 26, nays 10. !Mr. Clark's 
substitute was rejected, without a division. 

Mr. Wright moved to strike out all after the enact- 
ing clause of the bill, and insert as a substitute the 
amendment he had proposed, providing for a system of 
gradual emancipation. Mr. Wright declared he had 
offered it " because it embodies principles which I like. 
The object of presenting it as an amendment is, that, 
if adopted, it may be referred back to the committee 
for perfection." The amendment was rejected, — yeas 
10, nays 27. 

Mr. Clark moved to Insert at the end of section two, 
" that he has not borne arms against the United States 
during the present Rebellion." Mr. Trumbull moved 
to add that " the oath of the party to the petition shall 
not be evidence of the facts therein stated ; " and the 
amendment to the amendment wias agreed to, and 
the amendment as amended adopted. Mr. Browning 

6 



62 THE ABOLITION OP SLAVERY 

moved to make the sum appraised and apportioned five 
in lieu of three hundred dollars, one-half to be paid to 
the master, and the other half paid to the slave, on 
satisfactory evidence that he has removed and settled 
outside the United States. Mr. Browning would com- 
bine emancipation and colonization. "I believe," he 
declared, " that we cannot do any substantial good to 
the colored people of this country without combining 
with whatever action we take upon this subject a system 
of colonization, or adopting measures that will lead to 
voluntary colonization on their part. It is not legal 
and political equality and emancipation alone that can 
do much for the elevation of the character of these 
people. We may confer upon them all the legal and 
political rights we ourselves enjoy : they will still be in 
our midst, a debased and degraded race, incapable of 
making progress, because they want that best element 
and best incentive to progress, social equality, which 
they never can have here." — "Why does not the gen- 
tleman," asked Mr. Wilmot, "make his amendment 
consistent with his argument, and propose compulsory 
colonization? If the races cannot live together, then 
surely we should adopt compulsory emigration. The 
amendment of the senator goes but a short way towards 
the argument that he advances." 

" This inducement," replied Mr. Browning, " for 
voluntary emigration, is perfectly consistent with all 
that I have said on that point. I do not propose now 
to discuss a system of compulsory emigration. We 
are acting upon too small f^ cscale to justify us in broach- 
ing so momentous a question as that is at this time. 
The time may come, the time possibly will come, when 



IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 63 

compulsory colonization may be found necessary for 
the good of both races ; and, if it does come, I appre- 
hend I, for one, shall be found ready to meet it, and to 
take my share of the responsibility of enforcing it." 
]\Ir. Browning's amendment was rejected. 

Mr. Collamer (Rep.) of Vermont, for the better 
security of emancipated persons, moved to add two 
additional sections, providing that the claimants shall 
file, with the clerk of the Circuit Court in the District, 
descriptive lists of the persons for whom they claim 
compensation ; and that the clerk shall give on demand, 
to each person made free or manumitted by this act, a 
certificate under the seal of said court, settinof out the 
name and description of such person, and stating that 
such person was duly manumitted and made free by 
virtue of this act ; and these provisions were incor- 
porated in the bill. Mr. M'Dougall offered as a sub- 
stitute the amendment previously offered by INIr. Wright 
and rejected, — yeas 10, nays 25. The bill was then 
reported to the Senate, and the amendments adopted in 
Committee of the AYhole concurred in. 

Mr. Doolittle thought his amendment appropriating a 
hundred thousand dollars to aid in the colonization and 
settlement of such free persons of African descent as may 
desire to emigrate to the republics of Hayti or Liberia, 
or such other country beyond the limits of the United 
States as the President may determine, had been voted 
down because some senators thousrht it connected in 
some way with a system of compulsory colonization. 
He renewed his amendment, and demanded the yeas 
and nays ; and they were ordered, — yeas 27, nays 10. 
" I regard the bill," said Mr. Powell, " as unconstitu- 



64 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVKRY 

tional, impolitic, unjust to the people of the District 
of Columbia, and bad faith to the people of Virginia 
and Maryland. . . . This bill is unjust to the people 
of the District of Columbia, because it deprives them of 
one of their domestic institutions. It is unjust to them 
in another respect ; because, while you pretend to pay 
them, you do not give them a fourth of the value of 
their property. The highest amount you give a citizen 
for his negro is three hundred dollars, while every one 
in this Senate knows that many of those negroes are 
worth three or four times that amount." Mr. Wilson 
of Massachusetts remarked, that the senator from 
Kentucky was mistaken. "The average sum to be 
paid is three hundred dollars ; but for some may be paid 
eight or nine hundred or a thousand dollars, and for 
others but a very small sum indeed." Mr. Bayard 
(Dem.) of Delaware had hoped "to obtain the floor, 
on the passage of the bill, at an earlier hour ; and though 
it is certainly, personally, very inconvenient to me to 
speak at this time, I have to perform a duty which I 
owe, not to my own constituents, for they have no par- 
ticular nor immediate interest in the bill, but a duty 
that I think I owe, as a member of this body, to my 
country. ... I concede, without the slightest reser- 
vation, that the authority of the General Government 
over the District of Columbia is precisely the same as 
the authority of a State over its territory ; that no con- 
stitutional objection can arise to the action of Congress 
in abolishing slavery in this District, other than those 
that could be made within the boundaries of a State 
\mder similar provisions of a State constitution. The 
eflect of this bill, in my judgment, will be deleterious, 



IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 65 

and most deleterious first to the city of Washington, 
next to the State of Maryland, then to the State of 
Viro-inia, and then bv the effect of its indirect influence 
to the State of Kentucky and the State of Missouri ; 
and, if you succeed in compelling by force of arms the 
other slaveholding States to return into the Union, the 
effect will permeate through the entire mass of those 
States." 

At the close of Mr. Bayard's speech, the presiding 
officer stated that the question was on the passage of 
the bill, upon which the yeas and nays had been 
ordered. The question was taken, and resulted — 
yeas 29, nays 14. Thus the bill "for the release of 
certain persons held to service or labor in the District 
of Columbia," introduced by Mr. Wilson into the Sen- 
ate, Dec. 16, 1861, passed the Senate, April 3, 1862. 

In the House of Representatives, on the 10th of 
April, Mr. Stevens (Rep.) of Pennsylvania moved that 
the House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole 
on the State of the Union. The motion was agreed to ; 
and Mr. Stevens moved that all the preceding bills 
on the calendar be laid aside, and that the committee 
take up the bill for the abolition of slavery in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia. Mr. Webster (Union) of Maryland 
objecting, the chairman, Mr. Dawes (Rep.) of Massa- 
chusetts, stated that he would call the calendar in order. 
Mr. Stevens said he would move to lay the bills aside 
until he reached the bill he had indicated. When the 
Senate bill for the abolition of slavery in the District 
of Columbia was reached, Mr. Webster moved to lay 
it aside ; but the motion failed, and the bill was before 
the Committee of the Whole for consideration. "I 

6* 



Q6 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVEEY 

avail myself," said Mr. Thomas (0pp.) of Massachu- 
setts, "of the indulgence of the committee to make 
some suggestions upon subjects now attracting the 
attention of Congress and of the country, — the rela- 
tion of the ' seceded States ' (so called) to the Union, 
the confiscation of property, and the emancipation of 
slaves in such States." 

On the 11th, Mr. Stevens moved that the debate 
upon the bill be closed in one hour after the Committee 
of the Whole resumes its consideration ; but the motion 
was lost, — yeas 57, nays 64. Mr. Nixon (Rep.) of 
New Jersey said, "The gradual emancipation of the 
slave would have been more in harmony with the past 
modes of dealing with this question, and more in accord- 
ance with my views of public policy. But if immediate 
emancipation, with just compensation, shall prove to be 
the sentiment of the House, I am prepared to exercise 
an express constitutional power, and vote to remove for 
ever the blot of slavery from the national capital." 
Mr. Blair (Rep.) of Missouri said, "The charge has 
frequently been heard here and elsewhere, that the Pres- 
ident is without a policy in his administration. I shall 
endeavor to show that this imputation is unfounded, to 
explain my conceptions of his policy, and to demon- 
strate that it is wise in every aspect, and commends 
itself to the lovers of the Union and of freedom." Mr. 
Crittenden (Union) of Kentucky followed in opposition 
to the bill and to the policy of emancipation. "You 
may produce," he said, " much mischief by this measure. 
What is the good? Slavery has been, under one influ- 
ence or another, disappearing from this district for 
years. It has been decaying and going out. Your bill 



IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 67 

would not, probably, have a thousand slaves to act 
upon. What, then, is the deep anxiety to pass this 
measure? Why should Congress, at a time like this, 
devote its attention with so much earnestness, and appa- 
rently with so much purpose, to this measure? Let 
slavery alone. It will go out like a candle. No dis- 
turbance will follow it. No violation of public feeling 
will follow. Xo apprehension will result from it. This 
measure will create discontent among the people else- 
where, and will lead them to consider it but as an au- 
gury of what is to come afterwards. The good you can 
do by it is little, is minute, in comparison to the great 
question involved." — "We are deliberating here to- 
day," said Mr. Bingham of Ohio, "upon a bill which 
illustrates the great principle that this day shakes the 
throne of every despot upon the globe ; and that is, 
whether man was made for government, or government 
made for man. Those who oppose this bill, whether 
they intend it or not, by recording their votes against 
this enactment, reiterate the old dogma of tyrants, that 
the people are made to be governed, and not to govern. 
I deny that proposition. I deny it, because all my con- 
victions are opposed to it. I deny it, because I am sure 
that the Constitution of my country is against it. I 
cannot forget, if I would, the grand utterance of one of 
the illustrious men of modern times, — of whom Guizot 
very fitly said, that his thoughts impress themselves 
indelibly wherever they fall, — standing amid the despot- 
isms of Europe, conscious of the great truth that all 
men are of right equal before the law, that thrones' may 
perish, that crowns may turn to dust, that sceptres may 
be broken and empires overthrown, but that the 



68 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 

rights of men are perpetual, he proclaimed to listening 
France the strong, true words, ^ States are born, live, 
and die upoii the earth ; here they fulfil their destiny : 
but, after the citizen has discharged every duty that he 
owes to the State, there abides with him the nobler part 
of his being, his immortal faculties, by which he ascends 
to God and the unknown realities of another life.' I 
would illustrate that utterance of the French thinker by 
incorporating in our legislation this day a provision, that 
every human being, no matter what his complexion, 
here within the limits of the capital of the Republic, 
shall be secure in the enjoyment of his inherent rights ; 
that the citizen is more than the State ; that the protec- 
tion of his rights is of more concern than any or all 
mere State policies. I would pass this bill, not only for 
the sake of giving present relief to the unfortunate 
human beings for whose special relief it is designed, and 
who, if I am rightly informed, are being carried hourly 
away from your capital in order to perpetuate their too- 
long-endured captivity, not only to burst their fetters, 
not only to kindle a new joy in their humble homes by 
inspiring in them a sense of personal security and safety, 
but I would pass this bill for the purpose as well of 
giving a new assurance that the Eepublic still lives, and 
gives promise not to disappoint the hopes of the strug- 
gling nations of the earth." 

"A great truth," said Mr. Eiddle (Rep.) of Ohio, 
" is weakened by what men call elucidation. Illustra- 
tion obscures it ; logic and argument compromise it ; 
and demonstration brings it to doubt. He who per- 
mits himself to be put on its defensive Is a weak man 
or a coward. A great truth is never so strong as 



m THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 69 

when left to stand on its simple assertion. The thino- 
right for ever remains right, under all possible cir- 
cumstances and conditions, in all times, places, and 
seasons. Nor can it be changed at all. Not all power, 
nor the combination of all power, no matter how 
employed or applied, can change it in the least. It 
matters not at all how men call it : though the unani- 
mous world conspire to call it ill, and tag it out with all 
vile epithets ; though all obscene mouths make it com- 
mon, and lewd tongues toss it into sewers, and delicate 
and refined ears may not hear it, — it is nowise changed. 
No matter what ill happens to it ; though cast out, 
exiled, banished, and outlawed, marked and for ever 
banned, made leprous with contumely and reproach ; 
though prisoned, tried, condemned, and executed, and 
its body, like carrion, cast to vultures, — it still lives, 
is still right ; holds its old place and old sceptre. Nor 
can any man, by any power, under any circumstances, 
for any thing, be absolved from the allegiance he owes 
it." — "I did not rise," said Mr. Fessenden (Eep.) of 
Maine, " to discuss the merits of this bill. The hour 
for its discussion has passed. The hour in w^hich to put 
upon it the seal of the nation has come. I trust it is, 
indeed, the harbinger of that brighter, brightest day at 
hand, when slavery shall be abolished w^herever it exists 
in the land. This will be the one finality which will 
give us a righteous and a lasting peace." 

Mr. Rollins (Rep.) of New Hampshire said, "It is 
one of the most beautiful traits of human nature, that 
while the sons of men are struggling to bear the burdens 
of human life, and perform the works assigned to our 
common nature, they sometimes step aside, or stop in 



70 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 

their way, to minister to the wants of the needy, who, 
sitting by the wayside, lift their eyes and hands to beg 
for charity. This nation, which, like a giant, walks 
along the pathway of nations, girded as with iron, 
sternly to meet and overwhelm its fratricidal foes, while 
marching steadily on to its work, feels it no hinderance 
to listen to the humble cry of a few hundred of its 
feeblest children who grind in the prison-house of its 
deadly foe. The abolition of slavery in the District 
of Columbia is, to the few slaves therein, a deed of jus- 
tice and mercy that this people cannot omit to perform 
at this golden opportunity. Slavery has forfeited all 
claims to any implied obligation for immunity in the 
capital of the nation by its mad attempt to tear down 
the pillars of that Government under which it claimed 
protection. Justice demands that the arch enemy of 
our Government and instigator of all our present calam- 
ity, who still lurks in this chosen centre of the Republic, 
as Satan did in the garden of Eden, should be expelled, 
and that the glittering sword of power should guard the 
gate against its entrance for evermore. Mercy — if 
the act of emancipation may have that quality — de- 
mands for the victims of this too-long-endured oppres- 
sion their restoration to the primal rights of humanity. 
This is the quality that will give to this act, about, as 
I trust, to be consummated, its crowning grace and 
virtue, and commend it to the admiration of good men 
all over the world, and win for it the approval of Heaven, 
where mercy has its seat." — "Of the moral effects of 
the measure uj)on the country and upon the world," 
said Mr. Blake (Rep.) of Ohio, "I need not speak. 
That it will elevate us in the eyes of all civilized nations, 



m THE DISTRICT OF COLUIMBIA. 71 

is not doubted ; that it mil awaken a thrill of patriotic 
pride and enthusiasm in the great heart of the nation, no 
man doubts. Even the opponents of emancipation on 
this floor have not ventured to shock the moral sense of 
the House by an absolute defence of slavery as a thing 
desirable in itself. No man has ventured to assert that 
the measm^e will be injurious to the general interests 
of the District. The respected and venerable gentleman 
from Kentucky (Mr. Crittenden) did declare that he 
was no friend of slavery ; that, if the adoption of slavery 
were now an original proposition before the House, he 
would vote against it. I rejoice, sir, at such declara- 
tions as these, coming, as I have no doubt they do, 
from a truly loyal, patriotic heart : they are the har- 
binger of better days for the Republic. But, sir, I 
expect no applause in South Carolina and Mississippi 
for the passage of this bill, and none from traitors any- 
where. It is our duty to abolish slavery here, because 
Congress, by the Constitution, has the power to do it ; 
and, slavery being a great wrong and outrage upon hu- 
manity, we should at once do right, and pass this bill.'' 
— "I would rather close this debate," said Mr. Yan 
Horn (Rep.) of New York, "and come directly to the 
vote upon it, and content myself with recording my 
name in its favor. Indeed, it needs no defence. Upon 
its face it bears the marks of humanity and of jus- 
tice. Every line and every syllable is pregnant with a 
just and true sentiment, and already hallowed with the 
sublime spirit of a noble purpose. Throughout it there 
breathes a spirit akin to that which runs through all the 
wonderful teachings of Him who spake as never man 
spake, and inspired the hearts of those whose immortal 



72 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 

sayings will outlast all the monuments that time can 
erect." Mr. Ashley (Rep.) of Ohio said, "The struggles 
and hopes of many long years are centred in this 
eventful hour. The cry of the oppressed, ' How long, 

Lord ! how long ? ' is to be answered to-day by the 
American Congress. A sublime act of justice is now 
to be recorded where it will never be obliterated ; and, 
so far as the action of the representatives of the people 
can decree it, the fitting words of the President, spoken 
in his recent special message, ^initiate and emanci- 
pate,' shall have a life co-equal with the Kepublic. 
God has set his seal upon these priceless words ; and 
they, with the memory of him who uttered them, shall 
live in the hearts of the people for ever. The golden 
morn, so anxiously looked for by the friends of freedom 
in the United States, has dawned. A second national 
jubilee will henceforth be added to the calendar. The 
brave words heretofore uttered in behalf of humanity in 
this hall, like 'bread cast upon the waters,' are now 
* to return after many days,' and find vindication of their 
purposes in a decree of freedom." — "Discussion will 
go on," said Mr. Hutchins (Rep.) of Ohio, "should go 
on, till slavery is extinct. It has only a 'contraband' 
existence anywhere. It has rebelled against the lawful 
and rightful authority of the Government, and its pres- 
ence is in the way of permanent peace. Our fathers 
honestly supposed that it would disappear before the 
march of Christian civilization. They were mistaken. 
While we strive to imitate their wisdom, and seek to emu- 
late their patriotism, let us be warned by their mistake. 

1 am more anxious to vote than to detain the committee 
longer by remarks. This bill will make the national 



m THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 73 

capital y?Te; and then the statue- of Liberty, fashioned 
by our own Crawford, w^ill be a fitting ornament on the 
finished dome of the Capitol." 

Mr. Stevens move^ that the committee rise, for the 
purpose of closing the debate ; and the motion was 
aofreed to. Mr. Stevens then moved that all debate 
close in Committee of the Whole in one minute after 
the committee shall resume the considerattbn of the 
question. Mr. Richardson (Dem.) of Illinois moved 
to amend, so as to allow one hour, — yeas 56, nays 73. 
Mr. Wright (Dem.) of Pennsylvania moved to amend 
the first section so as to provide " that this act shall 
not go into operation unless the qualified citizens of 
the District of Columbia shall, by a majority of votes 
polled, approve and ratify the same." — "I would 
recommend to my colleague," said Mr. Stevens, "with 
great respect, an amendment in another document. 
It is somewhere provided that the wicked shall be 
damned. I would suggest to my colleague that he 
propose a proviso to that, ' providing that they consent 
thereto.' It would be just as decent an amendment as 
the one which he has proposed." Mr. Wright's amend- 
ment was lost. Mr. Wadsworth (0pp.) of Kentucky 
moved to strike out of the second section the words, 
"loyal to the United States." The provision he "held 
to be unconstitutional." — "I oppose," said Mr. Hick- 
man (Rep.) of Pennsylvania, "this amendment. My 
objection is, that a man who is disloyal forfeits the pro- 
tection which he would otherwise be entitled to from 
the Government ; that he cannot claim the protection 
of the Constitution which he repudiates and attempts 
to cast off; and it is not for us to confer rights upon 

7 



74 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 

him which he distinctly disclaims." Mr. Wadsworth's 
amendment was rejected. Mr. Train (Rep.) of Massa- 
chusetts said, "I offer the following amendment to the 
third section : 'That any person feeling himself aggrieved 
by the determination of the commissioners in the amount 
of compensation awarded, may, within three months 
from the time v, hen the final report of said commis- 
sioners shSll be filed, appeal to the Circuit Court of the 
United States for the District of Columbia, and either 
party may be entitled to a trial by jury in that court, 
and the judgment in the case shall be final upon all 
parties.' This amendment," said Mr. Train, "does not 
affect the bill, so far forth as it goes to the question of 
emancipation, but simply the proceedings in fixing the 
compensation." Mr. Train's amendment was lost, — 
ayes 53, noes 63. Mr. Harding (0pp.) of Kentucky 
moved to strike out the proviso limiting the sum ap- 
praised to $300. "You do not," said Mr. Harding, 
" consult the people of the District as to whether they 
are willing to sell or not. Not at all. You have the 
power to buy, and you will buy ; you have the power 
to fix your own price, and you will fix it. I say 
I have more respect for a man who will walk up and 
take my property, without thus mocking me with a 
consideration." Mr. Lovejoy (Rep.) of Illinois opposed 
the amendment. He said, "The gentleman thinks it is 
worse to take a thing for one-half of its value than it 
is to rob a man of his property outright, if I understood 
his remarks. I wonder which is worse, — 'to rob a man 
of his horse, or to rob him of his wife and child? That 
is the question I would like to ask him. Look at this 
which I hold in mv hand : — 



IN TPIE DISTRICT OF COLU3IBIA. 75 

'Georgetown, D.C, June 12, 1861. 
*I hereby give my consent to let James Harod have the 
privilege of buying his wife and child for the sum of $1,100. 
James Harod is himself free. 

' Louis Mackall, Jun.' 

"Now talk about robbery. Every slave here has 
been robbed and stolen, and every man who holds a 
slave is a man- thief ; and here, in this nineteenth cen- 
tury, in the Federal city of this Christian Republic, 
lofty and eminent among the nations of the earth, chal- 
lenging respect and imitation, is this man, Mackall, 
who proposes to let a free man have the privilege of 
buying his wife and child, which he had stolen from 
him, for eleven hundred dollars, — this Mackall, a 
woman-thief, a child-thief! How much did he give 
for this woman? He took her for a debt. And here 
let me say, for fear that my time may expire, this 
woman-thief, Mackall, after giving a pledge that this 
man might buy his own wife and child, flesh of his 
flesh, and bone of his bone, seized the woman and 
child, and a babe, six months old, horn since ^ and 
sent them into a slave-pen in Baltimore ; and yet here 
brazen men stand up and talk about robbing, be- 
cause we give only three hundred dollars apiece, on an 
average, to deliver these poor oppressed beings from 
a condition of brutism. It is the sublimity of impu- 
dence." 

Mr. WicklifFe said, " I have no hope of success ; but 
I feel it to be my duty to move to strike out the words, 
' without the exclusion of any witness on account of 
color,' where they occur. I presume it is intended to 
let a man's servant come in, and swear that he is a 



76 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 

disloyal man. I do hope the friends of this bill will 
not so far outrasre the laws of this District as to author- 
ize slaves or free negroes to be witnesses in cases of 
this kind." Mr. Stevens said, "I trust that this com- 
mittee will not so far continue an outrage as not to 
allow any man of credit, whether he be black or white, 
to be a witness ; " and the amendment was rejected. 

Mr. Wickllffe moved to strike out all after the enact- 
ing clause, and insert the bill moved in the Senate by 
Mr. Wright of Indiana. Mr. Holman (Rep.) of 
Indiana would amend the amendment by striking out 
the fifth section, requiring the authorities of Washing- 
ton and Georgetown to provide active and efficient 
means to arrest fugitive slaves. Mr. Cox (Dem.) of 
Ohio opposed the motion, "because, If the bill is to 
pass in any shape at all, I should like to see this sub- 
stitute passed in its entirety." Mr. Vallandlgham 
(Dem.) said that "there were not ten men in the 
Thirty-sixth Congress of the United States who would 
have recorded their votes In favor of the abolition of 
slavery in the District of Columbia. There are many 
on that side of the House who believe and know that 
assertion to be true ; and yet behold, to-day, what Is 
before the Congress of the United States ! In the 
language of the distinguished gentleman from Ken- 
tucky, ' availing themselves of the troubles of the times,' 
we have this bill brous^ht forward as the beo^innlno^ of a 
grand scheme of emancipation ; and there is no calcula- 
tion where that scheme is to end." Mr. Holman's 
motion to amend the amendment was rejected ; and 
Mr. WickllfFe's amendment was lost, — ayes 34, noes 
84. 



m THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 77 

Mr. Menzles (Union) of Kentucky moved to amend 
by striking out all after the enacting clause, and insert- 
ing as follows : " That the children of persons held to 
service for life in the District of Columbia, who may be 
born after the first day of May, 1862, shall be free ; 
and, at the age of eighteen years, may assert their 
freedom against all persons. Any person who may be 
brought into said District after the first day of May, 
1862, for the benefit of his or her owner or hirer, shall 
thereby become free. Any person who may deprive a 
person entitled to freedom, according to the first section 
of this act, of the power and means of asserting such 
freedom, shall be guilty of felony, and shall be punished, 
on conviction thereof in any court of competent juris- 
diction, by confinement in the penitentiary not less than 
five nor more than twenty years." The amendment 
was disagreed to. 

The committee, on motion of Mr. Stevens, rose ; 
and ]Mr. Dawes reported that the Committee of the 
Whole on the State of the Union had instructed him to 
report the bill back to the House, without amendment. 
Mr. Stevens demanded the previous question ; and it 
was ordered, — yeas 92, nays 39. Mr. Holman de- 
manded the yeas and nays on the passage of the bill. 
They were ordered ; and the question was taken, — 
yeas 92, nays 38. 

The bill thus passed the House, and was approved by 
the President on the sixteenth day of April, 1862. By 
the enactment of this bill, three thousand slaves were 
instantly made for ever free, slavery made impossible 
in the capital of the United States, and the black laws 

and ordkiances concerning persons of color repealed 

7* 



78 THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY, ETC. 

and abrogated. The enfranchised bondmen, grateful 
for this beneficent act of national legislation, assembled 
in their churches, and offered up the homage and grati- 
tude of their hearts to God for the boon of personal 
freedom. 



79 



CHAPTER lY. 

THE PRESIDENT'S PROPOSITION -TO AID STATES IN 
THE ABOLISHMENT OF SLAVERY. 

THE president's SPECIAL MESSAGE. — MK. KOSCOE CONKLIXG'S EESOLU- 
TIOX. — ^^MR. RICHARDSON'S SPEECH. — MR. BINGHAM'S SPEECH. — MR. 
VOORIIEES' speech. — MR. MALLORY'S SPEECH. — MR. WICKLIFFE's 
SPEECH. — MR. DIVEN'S SPEECH. — MR. THOMAS'S SPEECH. — 3IR. BID- 
DLE'S SPEECH. — MR. CRISFIELD'S SPEECH. — MR. OLIN'S SPEECH. — 
MR. CRITTENDEN'S SPEECH. — MR. FISHER'S SPEECH. — MR. HICKMAN'S 
SPEECH. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL IN THE HOUSE. — IN THE SENATE, 
THE RESOLUTION REPORTED WITHOUT A.AIEND3IENT BY MR. TRUMBULL. 
— MR. SAULSBURY'S SPEECH. — MR. DAVIS'S AMENDMENT. — MR. SHER- 
MANS SPEECH. — MR. DOOLITTLE'S SPEECH. — MR. WILLEY'S SPEECH. — 
MR. BROWNING'S SPEECH. — MR. M'DOUGALL'S SPEECH. — MR. POWELL'S 
SPEECH. — MR. LATHAM'S SPEECH. — MR. MORRILL'S SPEECH. — MR. 
HENDERSON'S AMENDMENT. — MR. SHERMAN'S SPEECH. — PASSAGE OF 
THE RESOLUTION. 

ON the 6tli of March, 1862, the President sent to 
Congress a special message, in which he said, " I 
recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your 
honorable bodies, which shall be substantially as fol- 
lows : — 

" Resolved, That the United States ought to co-023erate with 
any State which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery ; 
giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State in 
its discretion, to compensate for the inconveniences, public and 
private, produced by such change of system. 

" If the proposition contained in the resolution does 
not meet the approval of Congress and the country, 
there is the end ; but, if it does command such approval, 



80 president's proposition to aid states 

I deem it of importance that the States and people im- 
mediately interested should be at once distinctly notified 
of the fact, so that they may begin to consider whether 
to accept or reject it. The Federal Government would 
find its highest interest in such a measure, as one of the 
most efficient means of self-preservation. The leaders 
of the existing insurrection entertain the hope, that this 
Government will ultimately be forced to acknowledge 
the independence of some part of the disaffected region, 
and that all the slave States north of such part will then 
say, ^ The Union for which we have struggled being 
already gone, we now choose to go with the Southern 
section.' To deprive them of this hope, substantially 
ends the Rebellion ; and the initiation of emancipation 
completely deprives them of it as to all the States initiat- 
ing it. The point is, not that all the States tolerating 
slavery would very soon, if at all, initiate emancipation, 
but that, while the offer is equally made to all, the more 
Northern shall, by such initiation, make it certain to the 
more Southern that in no event will the former ever join 
the latter in their proposed confederacy. . . . While it 
is true that the adoption of the proposed resolution 
would be merely initiatory, and not within itself a prac- 
tical measure, it is recommended in the hope that it 
would soon lead to important practical results. In full 
view of my great responsibility to my God and to my 
country, I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and 
the people to the subject." 

Mr. Stevens (Rep.) of Pennsylvania moved its refer- 
ence to the Committee of the Whole on the State of the 
Union. On the 10th of March, Mr. Roscoe Conkling 
(Rep.) of New York asked leave to introduce a joint 



IN THE ABOLISHJVIENT OF SLAVERY. 81 

resolution, "That the United States ought to co-operate 
with any State which may adopt gradual abolishment 
of slavery ; giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be 
used by such State in its discretion, to compensate for 
the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such 
change of system." 

Mr. Ben. Wood (Dem.) of New York objected. 
Mr. Conkliug moved the suspension of the rules, to 
allow him to introduce the resolution, which was the 
exact resolution recommended by the President ; and 
the rules were suspended, — yeas 86, nays 35. Mr. 
Grider (0pp.) of Kentucky remarked, that he had not 
decided whether he should vote for the resolution or 
not. Mr. Wads worth (0pp.) differed from his col- 
league : he was now ready to vote against the resolu- 
tion. Mr. Conkling moved the previous question : 
lost, — ayes 61, noes 68. Mr. Richardson (Dem.) 
of Illinois opposed the resolution. His " people were 
not prepared to enter upon the proposed work of pur- 
chasing the slaves of other people, and turning them 
loose in their midst." Mr. Bingham (Rep.) of Ohio 
said, " This proposition interferes with no right of any 
State by intendment or otherAvise." Mr. Wickliffe 
(0pp.) of Kentucky asked INIr. Bingham to tell him 
under "what clause of the Constitution he finds the 
power in Congress to appropriate the treasure of the 
United States to buy negroes, or to set them free." — 
" I took occasion in January last," replied Mr. Bing- 
ham, " to remind the House of the words of the Father 
of the Constitution, uttered in the hearing of the listen- 
ing nation when the Constitution was under consider- 
ation for adoption or rejection, that the power conferred 



82 president's peoposition to aid states 

upon the National Legislature by the grant of the Con- 
stitution, for the common defence, had no limitation 
upon it, express or implied, save the public necessity, 
and that their laws should not conflict with the general 
spirit and purpose of the Constitution; viz., the pro- 
tection of the lives, liberty, and property of its loyal 
citizens. If the gentleman will pardon me, I beg 
leave to remind him again of the words of Madison, 
that ' it is in vain to oppose constitutional barriers to 
the impulse of self-preservation : it is worse than in 
vain.'" — "I have," declared Mr. Yoorhees (Dem.) of 
Indiana, "taken my stand, in the name of the people I 
represent, against it. If there is any Border slave State 
man here who is in doubt whether he wants his State 
to sell its slaves to this Government or not, I represent 
a people that is in no doubt as to whether they want to 
become the purchasers. It takes two to make a bar- 
gain ; and I repudiate, once and for ever, for the people 
whom I represent on this floor, any part or parcel in 
such a contract." Mr. Mallory (Dem.) of Kentucky 
wanted the resolution postponed, to give the representa- 
tives from the Border States an opportunity for consul- 
tation. " We have," he said, " agreed on the time and 
the manner of consultation." Mr. Diven (Rep.) of 
New York " hailed the introduction of this resolution, 
coming as it did from the Executive of the countrj'-, as 
a bow of hope and promise." Mr. Thomas (0pp.) of 
Massachusetts " intended to vote for the resolution ; but 
I do not understand, as gentlemen seem to intimate 
frequently on the floor of this House, that the House 
is to follow the beck of the President, or any member 
of the Administration. It has its duties to discharge 



IN THE ABOLISroiENT OF SLAVERY. 83 

as well as the President. This House is to initiate a 
policy, and not the President of the United States ; it 
is to take the responsibility as well as the President ; 
and therefore it is to discuss and deliberate before it 
decides or votes." Mr. Stevens said, "I have read it 
over ; and I confess I have not been able to see what 
makes one side so anxious to pass it, or the other side 
so anxious to defeat it. I think it is about the most 
diluted, milk-and-water-gruel proposition that was ever 
given to the American nation." 

On the 11th of March, ]Mr. Wickliffe opposed the 
resolution and the policy of emancipation. Mr. Diven 
appealed to the representatives of the Border States. 
"I ask," he said, "those men of the Border States to 
come up and stand by us who are loyal to them, and 
who have testified to them our desire to maintain to 
them the possession of all their rights. Stand by the 
President, who has never had a thouo:ht of violatinof 
one of your constitutional rights. I appeal to these 
men ; I appeal to all who would rally round the Presi- 
dent in his desire — in his honest, earnest desire — to 
bring this country out from this fiery ordeal unscathed, 
with every star upon her flag undimmed." Mr. Biddle 
(Dem.) of Pennsylvania said, "If you review this sub- 
ject from the adoption of the present Constitution down 
to the present day, — and it is a review I do not intend 
to inflict upon the House at the present moment, — if you 
review the subject, you will find, that, while State action 
has always been beneficent. Federal action has always 
been pernicious, exasperative, and, as I think, uncon- 
stitutional." — "I concede, and it gives me pleasure to 
concede," said Mr. Crisfield (0pp.) of Maryland, "that 



84 president's proposition to aid states 

the President of the United States, in making this offer 
to the coimtrj, is actuated by a spirit of patriotism. I 
can understand that he offers it to the peo})le of the 
slave States to produce some harmony on the agitating 
question of slavery, which has disturbed the whole 
country. I give him entire credit for honesty and good 
faith." Mr. Olin (Rep.) of New York inquired, 
" What is this resolution, in its whole scope and ex- 
tent? Why, simply, that, if you gentlemen of the slave 
States are willing to get rid of slavery, the General 
Government will aid you to do it by giving you a com- 
pensation for any loss that you may sustain ; and, 
although I am not worth much, God knows I would 
divide my last crust of bread to aid our Southern friends 
to get rid of slavery, and let us live in peace and har- 
mony together. I have not a great deal ; but, thank 
God ! what there is of it has been earned by honest 
industry ; and I would cheerfully divide it to aid you, 
gentlemen, in accomplishing that object. If these gen- 
tlemen say, * We cannot afford to make the sacrifice 
of manumitting our slaves,' the President says, ^ Very 
well : the General Government will aid you to accom- 
plish it.' That is the magnanimous, the great, the 
God-like policy of the Administration." Mr. Critten- 
den (0pp.) of Kentucky opposed the resolution. "I 
avow my confidence," he declared, " in the integrity of 
the President. I avow my confidence in liis purity of 
intention. I believe he means right ; and it affords me 
pleasure to concur with him in most of the measures 
recommended by him : but I regret that in this my con- 
science and judgment will not permit it. I believe the 
President would not, as he says he would not, interfere. 



IN THE ABOLISHMENT OF SLAVERY. 85 

He would leave it to the choice of the States to say 
whether they will enter upon the policy of emancipation 
or not ; but do not I know, that although the President 
will abstain from interfering, so far as he is concerned, 
there are many others, who, knowing it is a favorite 
policy of his, desiring themselves to be in his favor, 
would stir up an emancipation party in IMissouri, in 
Maryland, and in Delaware, — I will not now speak of 
my own State, — simply from that motive?" Mr. 
Fisher (Ind.) of Delaware declared his intention to 
vote for the resolution. Mr. Hickman (Rep.) of 
Pennsylvania said, " The resolution is rather a palliative 
and caution than an open and avowed policy ; it is 
rather an excuse for non-action than an avowed deter- 
mination to act. Neither the message nor the resolu- 
tion is manly and open. They are both covert and 
insidious. They do not become the dignity of the 
President of the United States. The message is not 
such a document as a full-grown, independent man 
should publish to the nation at such a time as the pres- 
ent, when positions should be freely and fully defined. 
... I know no great diversity of opinion among men 
whose interests are identified with slavery. I have 
never been able to discover a difi'erence in views or 
feelings between a man from Maryland and a man 
from South Carolina or Alabama. I have found, 
wherever the negro is, there is an undivided loyalty to 
slavery ; and every day's proceedings here show it, — 
conclusively show it. Every fair-minded man cannot 
but admit it. The President knows it ; the Cabinet 
knows it ; and therefore the difl[iculty which the Presi 
dent has had for a lone: time in dealino^ with this Rebel- 



86 president's proposition to aid states 

lion. Mr. Lincoln has found himself between two 
swords, — the sword of the party looking to a particu- 
lar policy to be pursued towards a rebellion springing 
from slavery ; and the sword in the hands of the Border 
States, who insist all the time that the war shall be 
prosecuted in such a way as to save their peculiar, 
divine, and humanizing institution." The question was 
taken on laying the resolution on the table, — yeas 34, 
nays 81. Mr. WickliiFe of Kentucky demanded the 
yeas and nays on the passage of the resolution, — yeas 
89, nays 31, as follows : — 

Yeas. — Messrs. Aldrich, Arnold, Ashley, Babbitt, Baker, Baxter, 
Beaman, Bingham, Francis P. Blair, Jacob B. Blair, Samuel S. Blair, 
Blake, William G. Brown, Buffinton, Campbell, Chamberlin, Clements, 
Colfax, Frederick A. Conkling, Roscoe ConkUng, Conway, Covode, 
Cutler, Davis, Delano, Diven, Duell, Dunn, Edgerton, Edwards, Eliot, 
Ely, Fessenden, Fisher, Franchot, Frank, Gooch, Goodwin, Granger, 
Haight, Hale, Harrison, Hickman, Hooper, Horton, Hutchins, Julian, 
Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, William Kellogg, Killinger, Lansing, 
Loomis, Lovejoy, M'lvnight, M'Pherson, Mitchell, Moorhead, Anson P. 
Morrill, Justin S. Morrill, Nixon, Olin, Patton, Timothy G. Phelps, Pike, 
Pomeroy, Porter, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Riddle, Edward 
H. Rolhns, Sargent, Shanks, Sheffield, Shellabarger, Sloan, Stratton, 
Train, Trowbridge, Van Valkenburgh, Verree, Wallace, Charles W. 
Walton, E. P. Walton, Whaley, Albert S. White, Wilson, Windom, 
and Worcester, — 89. 

Nays. — Messrs. Ancona, Joseph Baily, Biddle, Corning, Cox, 
Cravens, Crisfield, Crittenden, Dunlap, English, Harding, Johnson, 
Knapp, Law, Leary, Noble, Norton, Pendleton, Perry, Richardson, 
Robinson, Shiel, John B. Steele, Francis Thomas, Voorhees, Wads- 
worth, Ward, Chilton A. White, WickUffe, Wood, and Woodruff, — 31. 

So the joint resolution passed the House of Represen- 
tatives. 

In the Senate, on the 20th of March, Mr. Trumbull 
(Rep.) of Illinois, from the Committee on the Judiciary, 
to whom was referred the joint resolution of the House 



IN THE ABOLISHMENT OF SLAVERY. 87 

of Representatives, declaring that Congress ought to 
co-operate with, affording pecuniary aid to, any State 
which may adopt the gradual abolishment of slavery, 
reported back the joint resolution, with a recommenda- 
tion that it pass. Mr. Trumbull asked the Senate to 
put the resolution on its passage ; but Mr. Powell 
(Dem.) of Kentucky objected, and it went over under 
the rule. On the 24th, on motion of Mr. Trum- 
bull, the Senate proceeded, as in Committee of the 
Whole, to consider the joint resolution of the House, 
declaring that Congress ought to co-operate with and 
afford pecuniary aid to any State which may adopt 
the gradual abolishment of slavery. 

Mr. Saulsbury (Dem.) of Delaware pronounced it 
to be " the most extraordinary resolution that was ever 
introduced into an American Congress ; extraordinary 
in its origin ; extraordinary in reference to the source 
from whence it proceeds ; extraordinary in the object 
which it contemplates ; mischievous in its tendency : 
and I am not at all sure that it is anywise patriotic, 
even in its design." 

Mr. Davis (0pp.) of Kentucky moved an amend- 
ment, as a substitute for the resolution, to strike out all 
after the word " that," and insert, " although the whole 
subject of slavery in the States is exclusively within the 
jurisdiction and cognizance of the government and 
people of the States respectively having slaves, and 
cannot be interfered with directly or indirectly by the 
Government of the United States, yet, when any of 
those States or their people may determine to emanci- 
pate their slaves, the United States will pay a reason- 
able price for the slaves they may emancipate, and the 



88 president's proposition to aid states 

cost of their colonization in some other country." Mr. 
Sherman (Rep.) of Ohio did "not see any substantial 
difference between the resolution framed by the Presi- 
dent and the resolution as proposed by the senator from 
Kentucky ; but he should vote for it as framed by the 
President." — "I admit," replied Mr. Davis, that "the 
general principle both of the original resolution and of 
the substitute is the same." Mr. Doolittle (Rep.) 
of Wisconsin said, " As I understand it, the resolution 
suggested by the President covers two ideas, — first, 
emancipation by the States at their own pleasure, in 
their own way, either immediate or gradual ; and, sec- 
ond, the idea of colonization, a thing believed to be 
necessary to go along side by side with emancipation by 
nine-tenths of the people of the States interested, and 
without which they declare emancipation impossible." 
Mr. Willey (Union) of Virginia " could not withhold 
the expression of his regret that the President has 
deemed it to be his duty to make such a proposition to 
Congress ; but he should vote for it, not without hesi- 
tation, not without deepest regret." Mr. Browning 
(Rep.) of Illinois supported the original resolution. 
Mr. M'Dougall (Dem.) of California denied " the 
right of the Senate to impose upon the people on the 
shores of the Pacific a tax for the purpose of emanci- 
pating the slaves of Kentucky, Missouri, or Maryland." 
— "I regard," said Mr. Powell, "the whole thing, so 
far as the slave States are concerned, as a pill of arsenic, 
suo;ar-coated." He thouo-ht the lano-uao^e of the Presi- 
dent's message was very artfully and cautiously couched ; 
but the intimation was in it, that, if we did not accept 
this proposition, the Government would take our slaves 



IN THE ABOLISHMENT OF SLxVVERY. 89 

anyhow. *' I happened," he said, "a few nights ago, 
through curiosity, to go to the Smithsonian Institution, 
to hear a man of some distinction as an orator and 
lecturer in this country. I took my seat in the gallery ; 
and there I heard this man, Wendell Phillips, for half 
an hour ; and he distinctly announced, after eulogizing 
the President very highly for this message, that the 
interpretation of it was simply saying to the Border 
slave State men, 'Gentlemen, if you do not take this, 
we will take your negroes anyhow.'" — "I am," said 
Mr. Latham (Dem.) of California, "very free to say, 
that I believe the motive which prompted the sending 
of this resolution by the President to Congress to be a 
proper and patriotic one ; . . . but I am not prepared, 
as a representative of one of the States on the Pacific 
coast, to pledge the people thereof to submit to any 
kind of taxation that the Government may see fit to 
impose in a general scheme of emancipation." — "I 
am," said Mr. Movrill (Rep.) of Maine, "greatly sur- 
prised at the course of this debate. I had supposed it 
was possible for somebody in some way to allude to the 
subject of slavery, without eliciting indignation, or 
without rendering it a subject for discussion, for lati- 
tudinarian discussion, for discussion in various direc- 
tions, for discussion in which gentlemen must think it 
necessary to define their positions. ... I cannot con- 
ceive that such a proposition as that is offensive, or can 
possibly be offensive, to any man or any class of men 
who have not made up their minds, that, above all 
things, — Constitution, country, every thing, — they 
hold slavery to be supreme. They will stand on that, 
no matter what becomes of the country. They will not 

8* 



90 president's proposition to aid states 

only resist all legislation on the subject, but they will 
treat with scorn and contempt every invitation to con- 
sider the subject. That is the attitude in which senators 
place themselves here. They are indignant that the 
President of the United States proposes that these 
States in their own way shall consider whether it is not 
expedient to get rid in the future of the cause of our 
present troubles." The question was taken on Mr. 
Davis's amendment by yeas and nays, — yeas 4, nays 
34. 

On the 27th, Mr. Henderson (Union) of Missouri 
offered an amendment, to insert at the end of the reso- 
lution the following proviso : " That nothing herein 
contained shall be construed to imply a willingness on 
the part of Cungress that any of the States now com- 
posing the Union shall be permitted to withdraw per- 
manently their allegiance to the Government ; but it 
is hereby declared to be the duty of the country to 
prosecute the war until the Constitution shall have been 
restored over every State professing to have seceded." 
Mr. Henderson advocated his amendment, and avowed 
his intention to vote for the resolution. " I regard it," 
he said, "as no insult to the people of my State ; I 
ref>;ard it as no threat : but I reg-ard it as a measure 
that is conciliatory, and looks to the future peace and 
harmony of the country, and to the early restoration of 
the Union. If this spirit had been more largely culti- 
vated in days gone by, we would not this day be forced 
to witness a ruined South and a deeply oppressed North. 
Why, sir, ninety-six days of this war would pay for 
every slave, at full value, in the States of Kentucky, 
Missouri, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of 



IN THE ABOLISHMENT OF SLAVERY. 91 

Columbia." Mr. Henderson's amendment was re- 
jected. 

Mr. Sherman, on the 2d of April, made an elaborate 
speech in favor of the joint resolution, and of the abo- 
lition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and in 
favor of enacting "the most rigid law of confiscation 
aofainst the leaders of the Rebellion." 

The joint resolution was ordered to a third reading ; 
and was read the third time, at length, as follows : 
^"^ Resolved, (&c., That the United States ought to co- 
operate with any State which may adopt the gradual 
abolishment of slavery ; giving to such State pecuniary 
aid, to be used by such State in its discretion, to com- 
pensate for the inconveniences, public and private, pro- 
duced by such change of system." 

Mr. Saulsbury called for the yeas and nays on the 
passage of the resolution, and they were ordered; and, 
being taken, resulted — yeas 32, nays 10 — as fol- 
lows : — 

Yeas. — Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, 
Davis, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Har- 
lan, Henderson, Howard, Howe, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of 
Kansas, Morrill, Pomeroy, Sherman, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Thomson, 
Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Willey, Wilmot, and Wilson of Massa- 
chusetts, — 32. 

Nays. — Messrs. Bayard, Carlile, Kennedy, Latham, Nesmith, 
Powell, Saulsbury, Stark, Wilson of Missouri, and Wright, — 10. 

So the joint resolution was passed in the Senate, and 
received the approval of the President on the lOth of 
April, 1862. 



92 



CHAPTER V. 

THE PROHIBITION OF SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES. 

MK. ARNOLD'S BILL. — MR. LOVEJOY'S REPORT. — MOTION TO LAY THE BILL 
ON THE TABLE. — MR. LOVEJOY'S SUBSTITUTE. — REMARKS OF MR. COX. 
— MR. DIVEN. — MR. OLIN. — MR. CRISFIELD. — MR. KELLEY. — MR. 
SHEFFIELD. — MR. STEVENS. — MR. THOMAS. — MR. BINGHAM. — MR. 
FISHER. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL IN THE HOUSE. — IN THE SENATE. — 
MR. BROWNING'S REPORT. — MR. BROWNING'S AMENDMENT. — MR. 
CARLILE'S SPEECH. — MR. WADE'S SPEECH — PASSAGE OF, THE BILL 
AS AMENDED. — AMENDMENT OF THE SENATE CONCURRED IN. 

NO question during the existence of the Republic of 
the United States has excited so intense and pro- 
found an interest as the question, whether freedom or 
slavery should predominate in the Territories. The vast 
extent of the territorial possessions of the United States, 
the power of the rising commonwealths upon the desti- 
nies of the nation, made their territorial condition one 
of intense solicitude alike to the friends and enemies of 
slavery. Freedom and slavery have often contended 
for ascendency in the Territories. In these oft-repeated 
contests, the sentiments and opinions, the interests and 
passions, of vast sections have been deeply aroused, and 
the whole nation stirred to its profoundest depths. In 
these struo:2:les, the slaveholdins; interests were accus- 
tomed to win decisive victories ; but, in 1860, the advo- 
cates of the freedom of the Territories achieved a national 
triumph in the election of a President fully and unre- 
servedly pledged to their policy. 



THE PROHIBITION OF SLAVERY, ETC. 93 

In the House of Representatives, on the 24th of 
March, 1862, Mr. Arnold (Rep.) of Illinois introduced 
a bill to render freedom national, and slavery sectional ; 
which was read, and referred to the Committee on Ter- 
ritories. On the 1st of May, Mr. Lovejoy (Rep.) of 
Illinois reported from the Committee on Territories 
Mr. Arnold's bill to make freedom national, and slavery 
sectional ; which was read, recommitted to the Com- 
mittee on Territories, and ordered to be printed. 

Mr. Lovejoy, on the 8th of May, from the Committee 
on Territories, reported it back, with an amendment to 
the title, and with the recommendation that it pass the 
jhalLQ?liiI^House, to render freedom national, and slavery 
sectional ; and moved the previous question upon its 
engrossment and thii'd reading. It provided, that to the 
end that freedom may be, and remain for ever, the fun- 
damental law of the land in all places whatsoever, so 
far as it lies within the powers or depends upon the 
action of the Government of the United States to make 
it so, slavery and involuntary servitude, in all cases 
whatsoever, shall henceforth cease, and be prohibited 
for ever, in all the following places : 1. In all the Terri- 
tories of the United States now existing, or hereafter to 
be formed or acquired in any way. 2. In all places 
purchased or to be purchased by the United States, with 
the consent of the Legislatures of the several States, 
for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock- 
yards, and other needful buildings. 3. In all vessels on 
the high seas, and on all national highways, beyond the 
territory and jurisdiction of each of the several States 
from which or to which the said vessels may be going. 
4. In all places whatsoever where the National Govern- 



94 THE PKOHIBITION OF SLAVERY 

ment is supreme, or has exclusive jurisdiction or power. 
The bill further provided, that any person now held, or 
attempted to be held hereafter, as a slave in any of the 
places above named, is hereby declared to be free ; and 
that the right to freedom hereby declared may be asserted 
in any of the courts of the United States or of the 
several States, in behalf of the party, or his or her pos- 
terity, after any lapse of time, upon the principle that a 
party once free is always free. Mr. Cox (Dem.) of 
Ohio moved that the bill be laid upon the table ; upon 
wliich motion Mr. Washburn (Rep.) of Illinois demand- 
ed the yeas and nays, and they were ordered, — yeas 
50, nays 64. On motion of Mr. M'Knight (Rep.) of 
Pennsylvania, the House adjourned. 

On the 9th of May, the Speaker announced as the 
special order of the day, the bill prohibiting slavery in 
the Territories. Mr. Lovejoy withdrew his demand for 
the previous question, and oiFered a substitute for the 
pending bill. The bill provided that slavery, in all 
cases whatsoever, shall henceforth cease, and be prohib- 
ited for ever, in all the following places ; namely. First, 
In all the Territories of the United States now existing, 
or hereafter to be formed or acquired in any way. 
Second, In all places purchased or to be purchased by 
the United States, with the consent of the Legislatures 
of the several States, for the erection of forts, maga- 
zines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings, 
and in which the United States have or shall have exclu- 
sive legislative jurisdiction. Third, In all vessels on 
the high seas beyond the territory and jurisdiction of 
«f each of the several States from which or to which 
the said vessels may be going. Fourth, In all places 



IN THE TERRITORIES. 95 

whatsoever where the National Government has exclu- 
sive jurisdiction. That any person now held, or at- 
tempted to be held hereafter, as a slave in any of the 
places above named, is declared to be free ; and the right 
to freedom may be asserted in any of the courts of the 
United States or of the several States, in behalf of 
the party, or his or her posterity, after any lapse of 
time. Mr. Allen (Dem.) of Illinois moved that the 
bill be laid upon the table, — yeas 50, nays 65. 

Mr. Olin (Rep.) of New York desired to amend and 
debate it. ]\Ir. Lovejoy withdrew the demand for the 
previous question, and moved to amend his substitute 
by striking out these words, "and all national high- 
ways." " That," he said, " relieves the bill from some 
of the objections which have been brought against it by 
some gentlemen who are friends of the bill." IVIr, 
Lovejoy moved the previous question, to test the sense 
of the House, whether the bill should be discussed or 
not. The House decided, — ayes 42, noes 61. Mr. 
Lovejoy then moved to recommit the bill. "I do not," 
he said, " propose at present to enter at any length into 
the discussion of this bill. It is in accordance with the 
uniform policy of the Government on its organization 
to prohibit the crime of slavery in the Territories. 
From the result of the vote just taken, I suppose there 
are gentlemen here who wish to discuss it ; and re- 
serving to myself the right, if I shall think it necessary, 
to resume the floor before the debate shall close, I now 
give way to any one who may desire it." — "I move," 
said Mr. Cox of Ohio, "to add to the motion to recom- 
mit instructions, that neither this bill nor any similar 
bill shall be reported back to the House. I believe it 



96 THE PKOHIBITION OF SLAVERY 

to be a suicidal bill, — a bill for the benefit of secession 
and Jeff. Davis. The army and the people are against 
all such aids to the enemy of the country. The con- 
servative men of the Jlouse have the power, and ought 
to * squelch ' out the whole negro business. They are 
responsible for this continuous agitation. From the 
very commencement of the session, we have had these 
bills before us in one shape or another, postponed from 
time to time, and delayed by dilatory motions and 
adjournments. Now, I want to see the conservative 
element of the House, if there is any such thing left 
here, come up and vote this thing right down. I there- 
fore hope the House will send this back to the com- 
mittee ; and, in sending it back to the committee, let us 
give it such a death-blow as will destroy all similar 
measures." Mr. Wickliffe (Dem.) of Kentucky sug- 
gested to Mr. Cox to recommit, with instructions " not 
to report it back until the next session, during the cold 
weather." Mr. Cox moved to recommit the bill, with 
instructions " to report it back at the next session, on 
the very last day." Mr. Diven (Rep.) of New York 
" wanted Congress to exhaust the last power it has 
over this institution, whenever and wherever it can be 
done." Mr. Wickliffe quoted at length " the decision 
of Justice Story on the rights of slavery, for the bene- 
fit of the country people." Mr. Diven was of opinion, 
that " when we acquire land for the purpose of a navy- 
yard, and exclude the States ceding that land from any 
civil jurisdiction over it, we take it with the right to 
control it as we please." Mr. Thomas (0pp.) of Mas- 
sachusetts called the attention of Mr. Diven to the law 
of 1795, by which the civil jurisdiction is given to the 



IN THE TERRITORIES. 97 

States over cessions made to the General Government. 
Mr. Diven wanted to free the bill of all ambiguity, 
"and let the operation of the law extend nowhere 
except where slavery may exist by virtue of the Consti- 
tution and laws of the United States ; and I repeat, as 
I have so often done already, but I wish to be em- 
phatic, that, if such a spot exists upon the broad earth, 
let us exercise the power to abolish slavery." Mr. 
Cox modified his motion by moving to postpone the 
bill till the first day of the next session, instead of the 
last. Mr. Arnold of Illinois advocated the bill and 
all its provisions. Mr. Olin of New York and Mr. 
Kellogg (Eep.) of Illinois objected to portions of the 
bill concerning the prohibition of slavery in the dock- 
yards, arsenals, and forts. Mr. Olin would "be as 
glad as any one to see the institution of slavery at 
least so crippled, that it will never henceforward be 
a disturbino; cause in the administration of the Govern- 
ment. I, for one, will not consent to step an inch 
beyond the plain guaranties of the Constitution to 
accomplish even that purpose. Our only justification 
in the eyes of the civilized world for this warfare going 
on in our midst is, that we stand here, in obedience to 
law, in defence of the Constitution and law ; and the 
moment we lay aside that shield of protection, and pros- 
ecute this war for other purposes, whatever result may 
be wrought out by the prosecution of the war, it would 
be a wicked war. It would be, on every principle of 
Christianity, an unjustifiable war. Our only defence 
before God, posterity, and the world. Is that we fight 
in defence of the laws, not for theu' subversion. The 
wickedness of this Rebellion consists not in the fact 

9 



98 THE PROHIBITION OF SLAVERY 

that it is treason, always held to be a crime all the 
world over. Its chief enormity consists in the fact, that 
it is treason against such a Government as this, based 
on the common consent of the governed, with provision 
in the fundamental law to alter, change, or modify that 
Government in a peaceful way and by forms of law. 
If such a Government can be overthrown by force and 
violence', there is an end to all government except that 
of despotism and the sword. Hence it is, that rebellion 
against such a Government as this is of a deeper and 
more damnable dye than any other that has yet stained 
the annals of history." 

"I denounce this bill," said Mr. Crisfield (0pp.) 
of Maryland, "as a palpable violation of the rights of 
States, and an unwarrantable interference with the 
rights of private property. I denounce it as a fraud 
upon the States which have made cessions of land 
to this Government, a violation of the Constitution, 
and a breach of the pledges which brought the domi- 
nant party into power. I denounce it as an usurpation 
and a tyrannical exercise of power, destructive of the 
peace of the country. Sir, I denounce it in this 
House, and to the American people. I denounce it 
before the civilized world. I declare that those who 
seek to accomplish the great wrong this bill perpetrates 
seek the ruin of all constitutional government on this 
continent, and are the foes of regulated liberty every- 
where." — "What is this institution of slavery," asked 
Mr. Kelley (Rep.) of Pennsylvania, "that it should 
claim our special regard and care ? How has it blessed 
us, and what measure of latitude do we owe it? Sir, 
it is saturating every acre of Southern land with the 



IN THE TERRITORIES. 99 

best blood of the North. It is filling our villages and 
towns with widows and orphans. The names of the 
marshes and barren fields of the slave States are sanc- 
tified to tens of thousands of Northern mothers and 
wives as the places of the rude burial of the torn 
and mano^led remains of their loved ones. Tens of 
thousands of those, who, approaching manhood, were 
warmed by generous hope and just ambition, and 
upon whom widowed mothers or aged fathers hoped to 
lean in their declining years, will move through our 
streets the mutilated victims of the system of slavery. 
The scars and wounds of these brave youth will bear 
honorable testimony to their devotion to constitutional 
law, and proclaim to the coming generation the char- 
acter and the cause of the war in which they were 
received. The Rebellion is the result of slavery, and 
follows naturally enough a defeated attempt to over- 
throw by enigmatical legislation and judicial chicanery 
the well and long settled laws, principles, and habits 
of the land. I say, therefore, that in the interest of 
future peace, and in the interest of freedom and justice, 
we are called upon to pass this bill. The Constitution 
does not create it ; the Constitution does not in terms 
recognize it : it only tolerates it ; and this law does not 
propose to interfere with that toleration. It does not 
propose to abolish slavery anywhere. It only proposes 
to say to the slave-owner, 'Keep your slaves out of 
these places as employes: do not interfere with the 
system of free labor, and attempt to force the free 
mechanic into companionship with your slaves, or we 
will protect his dignity and interests by making free- 
men of your instruments.' " Mr. Fessenden (Rep.) of 



100 THE PEOHIBITION OF SLAVERY 

Maine declared, that, " when this Union is restored, we 
want to see the rio^hts of the North o*uaranteed to us 
as well as the rights of the South guaranteed to them." 
Mr. Sheffield (Dem.) of Rhode Island had no tender- 
ness with reference to ithis matter of slavery. " I say 
here, now, and always, I hate that institution. I think 
tliat freedom is the common law of the Territories, and 
that nothing but positive law can carry slavery there ; 
and we might as well here undertake to re-enact the 
Decalogue as to enact this law." 

Mr. Stevens (Rep.) of Pennsylvania said, "This bill 
proposes that there shall be no slavery hereafter in the 
navy and dock yards of the United States, or in any 
other places where the United States have exclusive 
jurisdiction. Now, every argument which can be used 
against this bill would apply with equal force against 
the bill which we have lately passed, and which has 
received the sanction of the Executive, abolishing slavery 
in the District of Columbia. I cannot possibly see how 
any gentleman, who could not possibly see a constitu- 
tional objection in the one case, can see it in the other." 
Mr. Thomas of Massachusetts asked Mr. Stevens "to 
call to mind the fact, that the bill for emancipation in 
the District of Columbia provided a reasonable com- 
pensation, while this bill provides none whatever." — 
"I did not," replied Mr. Stevens, "suppose, indeed I 
have hardly heard, that anybody doubted the power of 
Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, 
withput compensation." Mr. Thomas called the atten- 
tion of Mr. Stevens " to the fifth of the amendments to 
the Constitution, which provides that private property 
shall not be taken for public use, without just compen- 



IN THE TERRITORIES. 101 

sation." Mr. Stevens did not know " that the gentle- 
man held that doctrine. It is so rare a doctrine in the 
free States, that I did not know that any one from that 
quarter held it. I supposed, in reference to the ques- 
tion of slavery, that, wherever the Government had 
exclusive power, they had the right to do with it as the 
States did with it, — abolish it, without compensation. 
Does any man doubt that the States have that right ? " 
-^"Yes, sir," replied Mr. Thomas. "Then," said 
Mr. Stevens, "there is one doubter that will not be 
damned for that." Mr. WicklifFe asked, "Where has 
slavery been abolished without compensation?" Mr. 
Stevens answered, " In Pennsylvania, in New York ; 
and he thought Massachusetts had never made any 
compensation. ... I do not believe," he said, "there is 
any man from the free States, except the gentleman 
from the Boston district, who ever doubted that the 
legislative power of any locality, where they have the 
exclusive jurisdiction, have the right to abolish slavery, 
without compensation : and this is the first time I ever 
heard the opposite idea suggested by a man from a free 
State, and I trust in God it is the last ; for it is no 
credit to a free State to entertain such an idea." — "To 
whom," asked Mr. Hooper (Rep.) of Massachusetts, 
"does the gentleman refer as ^from the Boston dis- 
trict'?" Mr. Stevens replied, "I carried him as near 
Boston as I could ; for I did not like to say from the 
Quincy district, for that would seem such a humiliation ! " 
Mr. Thomas said, " The gentleman need not trouble 
himself about that. The position is this : that if the 
law of this District, as it existed at the time of the pas- 
sage of that bill, recognized a right in a person which 

9* 



102 THE PROHIBITION OF SLAVERY 

was capable of valuation, then the provision of the 
Constitution to which I have referred applies ; and you 
could not have taken that property, if it is property, or 
that right which is capable of computation, without 
furnishing that just compensation." 

Mr. Bingham (Rep.) of Ohio said that the bill abol- 
ishing slavery in the District " showed conclusively 
upon its face that it was a matter of pure election upon 
the part of the United States what compensation they 
should give, or whether they should give any at all ; 
and for this reason it was that Congress gave a gratuity, 
graduating the amount so that it should not exceed in 
the ao:o:reo:ate three hundred dollars each. No one 
knows better than the learned gentleman from Massa- 
chusetts, that such legislation as that, under the general 
provision of the Constitution which protects property, 
is absolutely inadmissible. The Congress of the United 
States cannot be the judge of the value under that 
clause of the Constitution at all, and it never was." 
Mr. Stevens declared " that the liberation of slaves in 
any locality where any legislature has exclusive jurisdic- 
tion is a political question, and it is a question of the 
organization of society, and in no sense of the word 
the taking of private property. It is a police and a 
political question, which the supreme legislature of any 
locality has a right to decide as it chooses ; and to say 
that that is not constitutional, is to inaugurate a new, a 
strange, and an awful doctrine, especially to come from 
the district of the sage of Quincy." — "Will the gen- 
tleman allow me," said Mr. Thomas, "to say that the 
sage of Quincy to whom he alludes, and for whom his 
respect is not more profound than mine, affirmed, when 



IN THE TERRITORIES. 103 

he was at Ghent negotiating the treaty of peace, in his 
correspondence with the British commissioners, not only 
that there was property in slaves, but that the effort of 
the British officers and soldiers to seduce slaves from 
theu' masters was in violation of the laws of nations? 
And I will say further, that Mr. Adams never voted for 
the emancipation of slaves in the District of Columbia, 
though his very humble successor felt it his duty to do 
60." — "'The sage of Quincy,'" replied Mr. Stevens, 
"has declared more than twenty times, and half that 
number of times within my hearing, the entire compe- 
tency of Congress to abolish slavery, wherever Con- 
gress has exclusive jurisdiction, without compensation." 
— "Within your hearing ?" inquired Mr. Thomas. "I 
have often," replied Mr. Stevens, "heard him make the 
declaration ; and I have heard Henry Clay make the 
same declaration." — "I can only," said Mr. Thomas, 
"say that ^Ir. Adams's entire public record is to the 
contrary." 

Mr. Roscoe Conkling (Rep.) of New York remarked, 
that, "about a week ago, this House, with great una- 
nimity so far as this side of the House is concerned, 
upon deliberation, raised a select committee, and to 
that committee committed this very subject, — this whole 
subject of confiscation and emancipation everywhere 
within the jurisdiction of the United States. I under- 
stand that committee is now ready to report. My sug- 
gestion is, that, that committee ])eing nearly ready to 
give an account to the House of its stewardship, — 
quite ready, some gentleman says, — it would be well, 
perhaps courtesy toward them, to commit this bill to 
that committee, and let it re-appear, if it Is to appear 



104 THE FEOHIBITION OF SLAVERY 

at all, when they shall have gh'^n us their work, and 
we have an opportunity to see whether this present pur- 
pose is within the scope of the two bills which I under- 
stand they mean to report." Mr. Fisher (Union) of 
Delaware took the floor, and the House adjourned to 
Monday, the 12th of May, when it resumed the con- 
sideration of the bill. Mr. Fisher said, "I am sure 
there is no man in this House who can possibly desire 
more than I do to see our country rid of the great curse 
of slavery. No man is more profoundly penetrated 
with the conviction, that it would have been far better 
for the harmony of our Union, as well as for the welfare 
and prosperity of the States, if slavery had never been 
known among us. It is hardly necessary at this day to 
discuss these points. The terrible and exhausting civil 
war in which we are now engaged will tell to future 
generations the sorrowful story of the effect of the 
institution upon the peace and harmony of our Union. 
Sad and satisfactory proof may also be found in the 
debates even of the Continental Congress, which de- 
clared the independence of the United Colonies, that 
the great and almost the only trouble the patriots of 
that immortal body had to meet was just such an one 
as we, their descendants, are engaged in discussing here 
from day to day. The ink with which the Declaration 
of Independence was written had scarcely dried, when, 
upon the question as to how the taxes necessary to 
maintain it should be Jevied, the subject of slavery came 
up to trouble and distract the national councils. It 
stood with defiant boldness upon the very threshold of 
the hall in which was debated and adopted the old Arti- 
cles of Confederation in 1783 ; and again in 1787, 



m THE TERRITORIES. 105 

when the framers of our present form of government, 
intended for a more perfect Union of the States, assem- 
bled at Annapolis, its ghastly form again stalked in to 
disturb and distract the deliberations of those good and 
great men ; and, from that day to the present, this evil 
genius of our destiny has from time to time returned to 
embarrass and impede our onward progress in power, 
and to position among the nations of the earth, until 
now it has culminated in the production, in the freest 
and best Government the world ever knew, of the most 
gigantic, causeless, and wicked Rebellion of which his- 
tory furnishes any record." 

!Mr. Lovejoy modified his substitute, so that it 
read, — 

" To the end that freedom may be and remain for ever the 
fundamental law of the land in all places whatsoever, so far 
as it lies within the powers or depends upon the action of 
the Government of the United States to make it so, there- 
fore — 

" Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That 
slavery or involuntary servitude, in all cases whatsoever (other 
than in the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted), shall henceforth cease, and be prohibited 
for ever, in all the Territories of the United States now exist- 
ing, or hereafter to be formed or acquired in any way." 

Mr. Cox moved to lay the bill on the table. Mr. 
Lovejoy demanded the yeas and nays ; and they were 
ordered, — yeas 49, nays 81. The substitute was then 
agreed to. Mr. Lovejoy moved to amend by striking 
out the preamble, on which he called the previous ques- 
tion. iVIr. Cox " would like to amend that by inserting 



106 THE PROHIBITION OF SLAVERY 

the words, *to carry out the Chicago Platform, and to 
dissolve the Union.' " The amendment striking out the 
preamble was agreed to ; and the bill was ordered to be 
engrossed, and read a third time. Mr. Lovejoy moved 
the previous question on the passage of the bill ; and it 
was ordered. Mr. Allen of Illinois demanded the yeas 
and nays on the passage of the bill. The question was 
taken ; and it was decided in the affirmative, — yeas 85, 
nays 50, — as follows : — 

Yeas. — Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Arnold, Ashley, Babbitt, Baker, 
Baxter, Beaman, Bingham, Francis P. Blair, Samuel S. Blair, Blake, 
Buffinton, Campbell, Chamberlin, (71ark, Colfax, Frederick A. Conk- 
ling, Roscoe Conkling, Cutler, Davis, Dawes, Delano, Diven, Duell, 
Dunn, Edgerton, Edwards, Eliot, Ely, Fenton, Fessenden, Franchot, 
Frank, Gooch, Granger, Hale, Harrison, Hickman, Hooper, Horton, 
Hutching, Julian, Kelley, William Kellogg, Lansing, Loomis, Lovejoy, 
M'Knight, M'Pherson, Mitchell, Moorhead, Anson P. Morrill, Justin S. 
Morrill, Olin, Pike, Porter, Potter, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, 
Riddle, Edward H. Rollins, Sargent, Sedgwick, Shanks, Sheffield, 
Shellabarger, Stevens, Stratton, Benjamin F. Thomas, Train, Trimble, 
Trowbridge, Van Horn, Verree, Wall, Wallace, Charles W. Walton, 
E. P. Walton, Washburne, Wheeler, Albert S. White, Wilson, Windom, 
and Worcester, — 85. 

Nats. — Messrs. Allen, Ancona, Joseph Baily, Biddle, Jacob B. 
Blair, George H. Browne, Wilham G. Brown, Calvert, Casey, Cle- 
ments, Cobb, Cox, Cravens, Crisfield, Crittenden, Dunlap, English, 
Grider, Haight, Hall, Harding, Holman, Johnson, Kerrigan, Knapp, 
Law, Lazear, Leary, Lehman, Mallory, Maynard, Menzies, Morris, 
Noell, Odell, Perry, John S. Phelps, Richardson, Robinson, Segar, 
John B. Steele, William G. Steele, Francis Thomas, Vibbard, Voor- 
hees, Wadsworth, Ward, Webster, WicklilFe, and Woodruff, — 50. 

So the bill was passed by the House of Represen- 
tatives. Mr. Lovejoy moved to amend the title by 
striking it out, and inserting in lieu thereof as follows : 
"An act to secure freedom to all persons within the 
Territories of the United States ; " and this amendment 
was agreed to. 



IN THE TERRITORIES. 107 

In the Senate, on the 15th of May, Mr. Bro^^Tiing 
(Rep.) of Illinois, from the Committee on Territories, 
to whom was referred the bill to secure freedom to all 
persons within the Territories of the United States, 
reported it with an amendment. 

On the ninth day of June, Mr. Wade (Rep.) of Ohio 
moved to take up the bill from the House prohibiting 
slavery in the Territories. Mr. M'Dougall (Dem.) 
of California demanded the yeas and nays, — yeas 20, 
nays 15. So the motion was agreed to ; and the Senate, 
as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider 
the bill to secure freedom to all persons within the 
Territories of the United States. The Committee on 
Territories reported the bill with an amendment, to 
strike out all after the enacting clause, and to insert 
the following in lieu thereof: "That, from and after the 
passage of this act, there shall be neither slavery nor 
involuntary servitude in any of the Territories of the 
United States now existing, or which may at any time 
hereafter be formed or acquired by the United States, 
otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the 
party shall have been duly convicted." The amendment 
was agreed to, the bill was reported to the Senate as 
amended, and the amendment was concurred in. Mr. 
Carlile said, " I should like to make an inquiry of 
those who have this bill in charge, whether this bill 
will interfere with the right of the Indians in the Indian 
Territory to their slaves. I have been looking into the 
treaty stipulations with the Choctaws and Seminoles 
and other tribes that are settled now in what we call 
the Indian Territory, and those treaties expressly se- 
cure to the Indians the entire le^^islative control of that 



108 THE PKOHIBITION OF SLAVERY 

country. I suppose it is not the intention of the Senate 
to violate any treaty stipulations with the Indian tribes." 
Mr. Wade did " not intend to say that it would interfere 
with an unorganized Territory belonging to the United 
States. It does not interfere with them now ; but 
whenever a Territory of the United States is organized 
there, then I have no doubt this bill, if it should become 
a law, would prohibit slavery in that Territory. In my 
judgment, it would not interfere with any of their rights 
there now." The amendment was ordered to be en- 
grossed, and the bill to be read a third time. It was 
read a third time ; and on the question, " Shall the bill 
pass?" Mr. Carhle called for the yeas and nays, and 
they were ordered; and, being taken, resulted — yeas 
28, nays 10 — as follows : — 

Yeas. — Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, 
Cowan, Dixon, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Harris, 
Howard, Howe, King, Lane of Indiana, Pomeroy, Rice, Simmons, 
Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkinson, Wilmot, and Wilson 
of Massachusetts, — 28. 

Nays. — Messrs. Carlile, Davis, Kennedy, Latham, M'Dougall, 
Nesmith, Powell, Saulsbury, Stark, and Wright, — 10. 

So the bill was passed in the Senate. 

In the House of Representatives, on the 17th of June, 
the bill was taken up, and Mr. Lovejoy moved the pre- 
vious question on concurring in the amendment of the 
Senate. The previous question was seconded, and 
the yeas and nays ordered on motion of Mr. Phelps 
(Dem.) of Missouri. The question was taken on con- 
curring in the Senate amendment, — yeas 72, nays 38. 
So the Senate amendment, reported by Mr. Browning 
from the Committee on Territories to the House bill 
originally introduced by Mr. Arnold, and reported with 



IN THE TERRITORIES. 109 

amendments by Mr. Lovejoy from the Committee on 
Territories, was concurred in. The bill passed, and was 
approved by the President on the 19th of June, 1862. 
This act prohibits for ever slavery in all the territory of 
the United States now existing, or that may hereafter 
be acquired ; thus closing for ever the long contest be- 
twen freedom and slavery for the vast Territories now 
in possession of the United States. 



10 



110 



CHAPTER VI. 

CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

MR. POMEROY'S bill. — MR. TRUMBULL'S BILL. — MR. MORRILL'S JOINT 
RESOLUTION. — REPORT OF THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. — MR. SUM- 
NER'S AMENDMENT. — MR. SHERMAN'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OP 
MR. WILLEY. — MR. HALE'S REPLY. — MR. HARRIS'S ifflVIENDMENT. — 
REMARKS OF MR. HOWARD. — MR. COLLAMER'S AMENDMENT. — MOTION 
TO REFER TO A SELECT COMMITTEE. — REMARKS OP MR. WILMOT. — 
MR. WILSON'S AMENDMENT. — MR. COLLAMER. — MOTION TO REFER TO 
A SELECT COMMITTEE BY MR. CLARK. — REMARKS OF MR. HALE. — 
MR. WILSON'S REPLY. — SELECT COMMITTEE. — MR. CLARK'S REPORT. 

— MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — MR. DAVIS'S AMENDMENT. — MR. 
SAULSBURY'S AMENDMENT. — MR. WILSON'S AMENDMENT. — MR. CLARK'S 
AMENDMENT. — MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. 

— HOUSE. — MR. ELIOT'S RESOLUTION. — MR. ROSCOE CONKLING'S AMEND- 
MENT. — MR. CAMPBELL'S RESOLUTION. — MR. STEVENS'S RESOLUTION. — 
MR. CONWAY'S RESOLUTION. — BILLS REFERRED TO JUDICIARY COM- 
MITTEE. — MR. HICKMAN'S REPORT. ^ MR. BINGHAM'S SUBSTITUTE. — 
MR. porter's amendment. — MR. ELIOT'S REPORT. — BILL DEFEATED. 

— RECONSIDERATION. — RECOMMITTED ON MOTION OF MR. PORTER. — 
REPORTED BACK BY MR. ELIOT. — MR. CLARK'S AMENDMENT. — SEN- 
ATE AMENDMENT LOST IN THE HOUSE. — SENATE CONFERENCE COM- 
MITTEE. — HOUSE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE. — REPORT OF CONFERENCE 
COMMITTEE. — MR. CLARK' S SENATE AMENDMENT ADOPTED. 

THE Thirty-seventh Congress assembled on the 4th 
of July, 1861. In the Senate, on the 16th, Mr. 
Pomeroy (Rep.) of Kansas introduced a bill "to sup- 
press the Slaveholders' Rebellion." This bill set forth 
that slavery had culminated in a formidable Rebellion ; 
that it presented to the nation the great question, which 
it must settle now, and settle for ever, whether Ameri- 
can slavery shall die, or American freedom shall live ; 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. Ill 

that by virtue of the Constitution, and as a great mili- 
tary necessity, it be enacted that there shall be no slavery 
in any of the States that claim to have seceded from the 
Government, and are in open and armed resistance to 
the laws and Constitution of the United States. The 
bill was read twice, and ordered to lie on the table and 
be printed. 

On the 5th of December, 1861, Mr. Trumbull 
(Rep.) of Illinois introduced a biU, wliich provided that 
the slaves of persons who shall take up arms against the 
United States, or in any manner aid or abet this Kebel- 
lion, shall be discharged from service or labor, and 
become for ever thereafter free, any law to the contrary 
notwithstanding. In presenting his bill, ^Ir. Trumbull 
said, " The right to free the slaves of rebels would be 
equally clear with that to confiscate their property gen- 
erally ; for it is as property that they profess to hold 
them : but, as one of the most efficient means for attain- 
ing the end for which the armies of the Union have been 
called forth, the right to restore to them the God-given 
liberty of which they have been unjustly deprived is 
doubly clear. It only remains to inquii'e, whether, in 
making use of lawful means to crush this wicked 
Rebellion, it is policy to confiscate the property of 
rebels, and take from them the support of unrequited 
labor. Can there be a question on this point? Whu 
does not know that treason has gained strength by the 
leniency with which it has been treated ? We have 
dallied with it quite too long already. Instead of being 
looked upon as the worst of crimes, — as it really is, — 
it has come to be regarded as a trivial oflfence, to be 
atoned for by a promise to do so no more. The despoil- 



112 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

ers of loyal citizens, the conspirators against the peace 
of a nation, the plunderers of the public property, the 
assassins of liberty, when they have fallen into our 
hands, have been suffered to escape on taking an oath 
of allegiance which many have not scrupled to violate 
on the first opportunity. 

On the 11th of December, Mr. Morrill (Rep.) of 
Maine introduced a joint resolution to confiscate the 
property of rebels, and satisfy the just claims of loyal 
persons. This joint resolution provided that any and 
all claim or right of a person, who shall conspire with 
others to overthrow, put down, or destroy by force, the 
Government of the United States, to the labor of any 
other person under the laws of any State or Terri- 
tory, shall be declared to be annulled, any law or 
usage of any State or Territory or of the United 
States to the contrary notwithstanding. Mr. IMorrill's 
resolution was read twice, referred to the Judiciary 
Committee, and ordered to be printed. Mr. Trumbull, 
Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to which the 
bill he had introduced was referred, reported it back 
on the 15th of January, 1862. On the 25th of Febru- 
ary, the Senate, on motion of Mr. Trumbull, proceeded 
to its consideration, as in Committee of the Whole. 
Mr. Pomeroy of Kansas inquired " if the senator from 
Illinois intended by the third section to commit the 
Government to the returning of fugitive slaves." — 
" Unquestionably not," replied Mr. Trumbull ; " and I 
do not think the lanouaire of the bill warrants that con- 
struction. It says to the commissioners, to tlie United 
States judges, to everybody, 'You shall never make an 
order, under the Fugitive-slave Act, to surrender up a 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 113 

man claimed as a fugitive from service or labor, until it 
is first proved to your satisfaction that the claimant is 
and has been loyal to the Government.' That is the in- 
tention of the provision." Mr. Pomeroy was op2)Osed to 
the section favoring the colonization of the emancipated 
slaves. If that provision was insisted on, he should feel 
called upon " to offer an amendment for the transporta- 
tion, colonization, and settlement, in some country be- 
yond the limits of the United States, of such slaveholders 
as have been engaged in the Rebellion." Mr. Willey 
(Union) of Virginia thought an immense number of 
negroes would be enfranchised before the close of the 
war, and thrown upon the community. He was " in 
favor of colonization ; but where was the money to come 
from ?" — "I may be in error," said Mr. Ten Eyck 
(Rep.) of New Jersey; "but, for one, I should be opposed 
to the second section, which provides for the enlarge- 
ment or liberation of persons held to service or labor, 
unless the third section, or a section similar to it, be- 
comes a law also at the same time." — "I concur," said 
Mr. Sumner (Rep.) of Massachusetts, "with the senator 
from Kansas in all he has said in relation to the Fugitive- 
slave Bill. I have never called that a law, or even an 
act. I regard it simply as a bill ; still, a bill having no 
authority under the Constitution of the United States. 
There is no fountain in that instrument out of which 
that enormity can be derived. That is my idea : I 
believe it is the idea of the senator from Kansas. I 
therefore propose an amendment which shall remove all 
such implication or possibility of recognition, on our 
part, of that bill ; while at the same time I believe it will 
carry out completely, adequately, in every respect, the 

10* 



114 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

idea of the senator from Illinois in the measure which is 
now under consideration. I propose to strike out all 
after the word ^before,' in the sixteenth line, down to 
the word Hhat,' in the nineteenth line, being these 
w^ords, ^Any order for the surrender of the person whose 
service is claimed, establish not only his title to such 
service, as now provided by law, but also,' and, instead 
thereof, insert, 'proceeding with the trial of his claim, 
satisfactorily prove : ' so that the sentence will read, ' He 
shall in the first instance, and before proceeding with 
the trial of his claim, satisfactorily prove that he is, and 
has been during the existing Rebellion, loyal to the Gov- 
ernment of the United States." Mr. Trumbull was 
entirely willing the Senate should adopt it ; and it was 
agreed to. 

Mr. M'Dougall (Dem.) of California, on the 3d and 
4th of March, addressed the Senate in a speech of great 
length in opposition to the enactment of the pending 
bill or any kindred measure. He was followed by Mr. 
Cowan (Rep.) of Pennsylvania in opposition to the 
measure. "If it passes," he said, "I think it will be 
the great historic event of the times, — times which are 
as fruitful of events as any the world has ever witnessed. 
Upon the disposition we may make of it, perhaps the 
fate of the American Republic may depend ; and no one 
surely can overrate the magnitude of any thing which 
may be attended with such' consequences. . . . Pass 
this bill, and the same messenger who carries it to the 
South will come back to us with the news of their com- 
plete consolidation as one man. We shall then have 
done that which treason could not do : we ourselves 
shall then have dissolved the Union ; we shall have rent 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 115 

its sacred charter, and extinguished the last vestige of 
affection for it in the slave States by our blind and pas- 
sionate folly." 

Mr. Morrill of Maine, on the 5th, addressed the Sen- 
ate earnestly and eloquently in favor of the bill. " The 
great measure before us," said Mr. Morrill, "and none 
greater has ever been before the Senate, has been char- 
acterized in this debate in earnest, eloquent, indignant, 
and, I think I am authorized to say, satirical speech, as 
extraordinary, unconstitutional, oppressive, and inexpe- 
dient. ... If slavery makes war on the nation for any 
purpose, I maintain the right of the Government, under 
the Constitution^ to defend itself, and, in doing so, ^to 
liberate the slaves ' of rebels ; and that whenever and 
howsoever the question arises between ^ the existence of 
the institution ' and the Constitution, slavery and the 
Union, the former must go to the wall, must perish, 
if necessary to preserve the latter ; and that this may be 
done in the name and in the behalf of * American con- 
stitutional liberty.' . . . The right of slavery to ^ex- 
emption from interference within its locality ' is lost in 
its audacious revolt and armed assault on the Govern- 
ment. Its cry 'to be let alone,' amid the cannonading 
of Sumter, is a shallow pretence to conceal a wicked 
purpose." 

Mr. Browning (Rep.) of Illinois followed, on the 
10th, in a lengthy and elaborate speech in opposition to 
the passage of the bill. He thought legislation of this 
character dangerous, and maintained that "the war 
powers of the Government were fully adequate to the 
needs of the occasion." Mr. Carlile (Dem.) of Virginia 
followed, on the 11th, in a long and discursive speech in 



116 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

opposition. He declared that " self-preservation would 
compel the States within which slavery now exists, if 
the slaves were emancipated, either to expel them from 
the State, or re-enslave them. If expelled, where would 
they go? The non-slaveholding States, many of them, 
exclude them by express constitutional provision ; others 
would do so : for we are told by the advocates of 
emancipation, that the negro is not to be permitted, 
when liberated, to come into their States. What fol- 
lows ? — extermination or re-enslavement. Can it be 
possible that the Christian sentiment of the North, which, 
it is said, demands the abolition of slavery, desires the 
extermination of the negro race? The well-being, if 
not the existence, of the white race, would demand their 
re-enslavement ; and it would be done." 

On the 7th of April, on motion of Mr. Trumbull, 
the Senate resumed the consideration of the bill ; and 
Mr. Trumbull defended it acfainst the assaults made 
upon it, in an elaborate speech, which he closed by say- 
ing, " Such an opportunity to strike a blow for freedom 
seldom occurs as that now presented to the American 
Congress. As most of the owners of slaves are en- 
gaged in the Rebellion, and will probably continue so for 
some time, the eiFect would be, if this bill were speedily 
enacted into a law, that they would by their own act 
give freedom to most of the slaves in the country ; and 
thus would be solved in a great measure, through the 
agency of this wicked Kebellion, the great question. 
What is to be done with African slavery ? — a subject 
in view of which Jefferson in his day exclaimed, that 
^he trembled when he remembered that God was just.' 
I appeal to senators, as philanthropists, as patriots, as 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 117 

lovers of the Union and of constitutional liberty, not 
to let pass this opportunity, which a wicked Kebellion 
presents, of making it the means of giving freedom to 
millions of the human race, and thereby destroying to a 
great extent the source and origin of the Kebellion, 
and the only thing which has ever seriously threatened 
the peace of the Union." 

Mr. Henderson (Union) of Missouri, on the 8th, 
made a lengthy but eloquent speech against the bill. 
"It is useless," said jVIr. Henderson, "to devise cunning 
schemes to effect the destruction of slavery. It is worse 
than useless to violate the least of constitutional safe- 
guards to accomplish it. The shells that passed from 
rebel batteries to Fort Sumter, twelve months ago, 
wrote its doom in living letters upon the Southern skies. 
If they will destroy it themselves, let all the responsi- 
bility of evils to spring from this sudden change in the 
labor and social system of the country rest upon the au- 
thors of the war." 

Mr. Sherman, on the 10th, moved an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute. It provided for confiscating 
the property and freeing the slaves of certain leading 
classes of rebels. Mr. Willey again spoke in earnest 
condemnation of the bill and all kindred measures. 
"What will be," he asked, "the necessary and inevi- 
table result of this policy if it be carried into effect ? 
It will be, that Virginia, by this increase of the free 
negro population under the operation of this bill, will be 
driven not only to re-enslave those who may be manu- 
mitted under the operation of the present bill, but also to 
re-enslave the sixty thousand free negroes already there. 
That will be the policy that my honorable friend from 



118 CEKTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

Kentucky (Mr. Davis) will see take effect in his State ; 
and so it must be in Maryland, and in every State 
where the operation of this bill will, to any extent, in- 
crease the number of the free negro population. . . . You 
are surrounding us by an impassable barrier of consti- 
tutional interdictions against the diffusion of this popu- 
lation ; while at the same time you want to manumit our 
slaves, and throw them broadcast on our community. 
Sir, the evil will be unendurable ; and the result will be 
the re-enslavement of the slaves thus manumitted, as 
well as those already free in our State." Mr. Hale 
replied to Mr. Willey's intimation, that the emancipated 
slaves would be re-enslaved, in a defiant and effective 
speech. " I have," he said, " as high regard for the 
chivalry, bravery, and power of Kentucky, Virginia, 
and Maryland, and any of these States, as any man has ; 
but I tell them, and I tell the legislature of every State 
in the Union, that, when they undertake that, they under- 
take a job that they cannot do : they set themselves in 
opposition to the moral sentiment of the country and 
of the world. There is not a monarch to-day on the 
throne of any of the kingdoms of Europe situated there 
so firmly, that he dare to set himself in opposition to the 
moral sentiment of mankind. I take it, sir, that it is 
neither fanaticism nor superstition to say, that when the 
Creator of the earth made the earth, and the same Power 
made colored men, he intended that the colored men 
he had made should dwell upon the earth that he had 
made ; and that when the broad earth was subjected 
to the servitude of man, and the fiat went forth that 
by the sweat of the brow of man should his living be 
obtained from the earth, it was a universal edict, irre- 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 119 

spective of complexion, and that the earth is subject to 
the servitude of supporting the black man as well as the 
white. I laugh to scorn all attempts and all threats at 
re-enslaving this people. I tell you, it cannot be done." 
" If the honorable gentleman," replied Mr. Willey, "had 
been better cognizant of my antecedents, humble as they 
are, on this subject, he certainly would never have con- 
ceived it to be his duty to rise here, and rebuke me for 
having uttered sentunents that were contrary even to 
his pecuhar theories. It is not becoming a man to 
speak of himself; but, rightfully or wrongfully, I have 
that consciousness which satisfies my own heart, having 
devoted nearly half of all I had in setting negroes free. 
Thousands of dollars out of my poor pittance and estate 
have been surrendered as attestations of my belief in 
the doctrine for which the honorable Senator from New 
Hampshire has thought it necessary to rise up here and 
rebuke me." 

Mr. Harris (Rep.) of New York, on the 14th, sub- 
mitted a substitute he intended to offer, and addressed 
the Senate in exposition of his views of the duty de- 
manded by the needs of the country. Of the seventh 
section of his intended amendment he said, " The seventh 
section of the substitute, w^hich is in substance the same 
as the second section of the original bill, relates ex- 
clusively to the slave property of rebels. Unlike the 
provisions of preceding sections, the forfeiture declared 
is applicable alike to all persons who shall be found 
engaged in the Rebellion. This is clearly right. AU 
must agree, I think, that slavery is the chief, indeed 
the sole, producing cause of the Rebellion. It has long 
been, and, so long as it continues to exist, it will be. 



120 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

the great disturbing element in our political system. 
Northern politicians, seeking to obtain political power, 
have cowered before it, and ignominiously yielded to its 
imperious exactions. In tliis way, it has been able to 
hold the reins and control the policy of the Government 
for most of the time since our history as a nation began, 
— often, very often, to the serious prejudice of our best 
interests as a nation. It was because, and only because, 
this power had been wrested from its hands by an indig- 
nant and long-suffering people, that this Rebellion was 
inaugurated." 

jVlr. Powell (Dem.) of Kentucky, on the 16th, spoke 
in opposition to the bill, and in severe denunciation of 
the antislavery pohcy of the administration. Mr. How- 
ard (Eep.) of Michigan addressed the Senate in support 
of the pohcy of confiscation, and the emancipation of the 
slaves of rebels, in a speech of great clearness and logi- 
cal power. He arraigned the slaveholding leaders of 
the Rebelhon for their " deceptive, delusive, and wicked 
words and deeds." He said, '^ Sh', even Satan, disguis- 
ing his horrid form, and — 

* Squat like a toad fast hy the ear of Eve/ 

practised no more deliberate deceit upon the sleeping 
mother of the race. They alarmed the fears of the 
timid and unthinking ; they aroused the vigilance which 
ever presides over property ; they stirred up the gall 
and bitterness of the bigot and fanatic, who deduce the 
right of slavery from the gospel itself; they inflamed 
the sectional pride of those who mistakenly claim per- 
sonal and heroic qualities superior to those of North- 
ern men ; addressing the rich planter, they scoffed at 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 121 

labor as fit only for slaves ; they spoke of the rapid 
increase of population in the free States as an alarming 
portent, and sorrowed deeply over the prospect of being 
compelled to submit to the will of a majority. Finding 
that, by their own incautious haste in forcing the North- 
ern Democracy to adopt obnoxious measures, they had 
united the Northern people to resist the further triumphs 
of their ambition, and had thus lost the balance of 
power, they invoked eloquently the memories of their 
former domination, and wept over its decline. At every 
public gathering, the air was burdened with their im- 
passioned appeals to the masses to rise, and resist the 
imaginary wrongs threatened by the North, or, as they 
derisively called the friends of the Government, Yan- 
kees. Every com't-house, every church, every fair- 
ground, was vocal with traitorous eloquence ; and God's 
innocent air was loaded with execrations against a Gov- 
ernment, the work of their and our fathers, which never 
harmed a hair of their heads, and whose only fault — 
shown in the compromise measures of 1833 — was, that 
it had loved them, not wisely, but too well. To the 
aspirant after place and honor, they held out the pros- 
pect of a separate Congress, President, separate cabinet 
ministers, judges, and ambassadors and consuls abroad ; 
to the lovers of adventure and booty, they pointed to 
the we.ak and distracted governments of Mexico and 
the Central- American States, to their mines, their cotton 
and sugar lands, and the ornaments of their churches. 
Their ambition grasped Cuba ; and that island was soon 
to undergo a practical verification of the doctrines of the 
Ostend Conference, which had received the blind adhe- 
sion of the President whom their votes had elected in 

11 



122 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

1856. And at the foundation of this splendid chimera 
of revolution and dominion, the pivot on which the 
whole structure was to turn, was the idea, repelled by 
all the accredited teachers of morals and public law, 
that the black man was born to be a slave, and that it 
was to defy the decrees of God and Nature to allow him 
to be free." 

Mr. Davis (0pp.) of Kentucky followed, on the 22d 
and 23d, in a very long and exhaustive speech in oppo- 
sition. He averred that " neither the Declaration of 
Independence nor the Constitution was ever intended to 
embrace slaves, nor any of the negro race, nor any of 
the Indian race, nor foreigners. It has been attempted 
in this argument to apply the prohibitions of the Consti- 
tution to foreiofners. It no more embraces foreio:ners 
than it does quadrupeds. It no more embraces Indians 
or slaves, except one or two prohibitions that are 
intended to preserve the humanity of our laws, than it 
does quadrupeds or wild beasts. The only partners to 
our political partnership were the white men. The 
negro was no party, and he cannot now constitutionally 
be any party, to it. He was outside of it at the time 
the Constitution was formed, and will be for ever, to 
this fundamental law of our Government." 

Mr. Sherman (Rep.) of Ohio spoke in support of 
his substitute. On the 24th, Mr. Collamer (Rep.) of 
Vermont addressed the Senate in an elaborate and able 
and effective speech. "The slaves," he said, "are now 
in the possession and control of their masters, except so 
far as our army goes. If they try to get away, espe- 
cially if they are at any considerable distance from our 
armies, theu' masters will not allow them to do it. Of 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 123 

course, the masters are not going to let them get away 
to join us to shoot them : they will stop them, perhaps 
kill them in the attempt. If we knew people were 
going from us to join the enemy and fight us, we should 
not let them go : neither do they. Now, by this bill, 
we say to these slaves, if they are ever to learn what we 
do at all (and, if they do not, it can have no eiFect) , 
* You need not run any risk about offending your master : 
perhaps your master will succeed in the Rebellion ; and 
you will suffer pretty hard if you undertake to run away, 
and he catches you. You may remain quietly with your 
master, and not incur the hazard of his displeasure or 
punishment ; but if, after all , your master does not suc- 
ceed, you shall be free, whether you help us or not.' 
Is that good policy? That is the bill. It does not 
seem to me to be a very wise means to the end, if such 
an end is had in view, as I suppose." 

Mr. Sherman withdrew his amendment, to enable the 
senator from Vermont to submit his substitute ; and Mr. 
Trumbull then addressed the Senate upon the various 
substitutes proposed. On the 29th, Mr. Cowan moved 
"that all bills, substitutes, and amendments relating to 
the punishment of rebels, and the forfeiture and confisca- 
tion of their property, be referred to a select committee 
of seven, to examine and report upon the same." 

Mr. Browning addressed the Senate at great length 
in earnest remonstrance against the policy embodied in 
these bills. On the 30th, Mr. Wilmot addressed the 
Senate in earnest advocacy of the bill. He said, ^' The 
second section, that j)roviding for the emancipation of 
the slaves of rebels, I sustain in the whole length and 
breadth of its provisions. While I shall claim for the 



124 CEKTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

Government full power over the subject of slavery, I 
would not at this time go beyond the provisions of this 
bill. I would to-day give freedom to the slaves of every 
traitor ; and, after that, would confidently look for the 
early adoption of the policy recommended by the Presi- 
dent, gradually to work out the great result of universal 
emancipation. . . . This great revolt against the integ- 
rity and sovereignty of the nation has no other founda- 
tion than slavery. Democratic government is a perpetual 
danger to slavery. The government of an oligarchy is 
demanded as security for its perpetuity and power. 
Here is the cause of the Kebellion, with its immense sac- 
rifices of life and treasure. Amidst the sacrifices of 
this hour, this universal wreck of interests, shall the 
slaveholding traitor grasp securely his human chattel ? " 
Mr. Wright (Union) of Indiana followed in support 
of the policy of confiscation. The President stated 
that the pending question was the motion of Mr. Cowan 
to commit the bill and all the amendments to a special 
committee. Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. Wade, Mr. Hale, 
and Mr. Trumbull, earnestly opposed the motion ; and 
Mr. Cowan made an equally earnest appeal for refer- 
ence. Mr. Howard moved to submit an amendment to 
the pending resolution, in the following Avords : — 

" With instructions to bring in a bill for the confiscation of 
all the property of the leading insurgents, and the emancipa- 
tion of the slaves of all persons who have taken up arms 
against the United States during the present insurrection." 

Mr. Davis moved to strike out the v/ords, "and the 
emancipation of the slaves of all persons." The question 
being taken by yeas and nays, resulted — yeas 11, nays 
29 : so the amendment to the amendment was rejected. 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 125 

» 

Mr. Howard then withdrew his amendment. The ques- 
tion was taken on Mr. Cowan's motion to refer all the 
bills and amendments to a special committee, — yeas 18, 
nays 22. 

On the 1st of May, the Senate resumed the consider- 
ation of the bill ; the pending question being Mr. Colla- 
mer's substitute. Mr. Wilson (Rep.) of Massachusetts 
moved to strike out the sixth section of the amend- 
ment proposed by jVIr. Collamer, and to substitute in 
lieu of it, " That, in any State in which the inhabitants 
have by the President been heretofore declared in a state 
of insurrection, the President is required, for the speedy 
and more effectual suppression of said insurrection, 
within thirty days after the passage of this act, to 
appoint a day when all persons holden to service in any 
such State, w^hose service is by the law of said State due 
to one, who, after the passage of this act, shall levy war 
or participate in insurrection against the United States, 
or give aid to the same, shall be for ever free, any law 
to the contrary notwithstanding." In support of this 
amendment, Mr. Wilson said, " I am free to confess that 
the provision emancipating the slaves of rebels is, with 
me, the chief object of solicitude. I do not expect that 
we shall realize any large amount of property by any 
confiscation bill that we shall pass. After the conflict, 
when the din of battle has ceased, the humane and kindly 
and charitable feelings of the country and of the world 
will require us to deal gently with the masses of the 
people who are engaged in this Rebellion. It will be 
pleaded, that wives and children will suffer for the crimes 
of husbands and fathers ; and such appeals will have more 

or less effect upon the future policy of the Government. 

11* 



126 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

But, sir, take from rebel masters their bondmen, and 
from the hour you do so until the end of the world, 
to 'the last syllable of recorded time,' the judgment of 
the country and the judgment of the world will sanc- 
tion the act. . . . Slavery is the great rebel, the giant 
criminal, the murderer striving with bloody hands to 
throttle our Government and destroy our country. 
Senators may talk round it, if they please ; they may 
scold at its agents, and denounce its tools : I care little 
about its agents or its tools. I think not of Davis and 
his compeers in crime : I look at the thing itself, — to 
the great rebel with hands dripping with the blood of my 
murdered countrymen. I give the criminal no quarter. 
If I, with the light I have, could utter a word or give 
a vote to continue for one moment the life of the great 
rebel that is now striking at the vitals of my country, 
I should feel that I was a traitor to my native land, 
and deserved a traitor's doom. . . . While I would not 
take the lives of many, if any ; while I would not take 
the property of more than the leaders, — I would take 
the bondmen from every rebel on the continent ; and, 
in doing it, I should have the sanction of my own judg- 
ment, the sanction of the enlightened world, the sanction 
of the coming ages, and the blessing of Almighty God. 
Every day, while the world stands, the act will be 
approved and applauded by the human heart all over 
the globe. . . . When slavery is stricken down, they will 
come back again, and offer their hands, red though they 
be with the blood of our brethren ; and we shall forgive 
the past, take them to our bosoms, and be again one 
people. But, senators, keep slavery ; let it stand ; 
shrink from duty ; let men whose hands are stained 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 127 

with the blood of our countiymen, whose hearts are dis- 
loyal to our country, hold fast to the chains that bind 
three millions of men in bondage, — and we shall have an 
enemy to hate us, ready to seize on all fit opportunities 
to smite down all that we love, and again to raise their 
disloyal hands against the perpetuity of the Republic. 
Sir, I beUeve this to be as true as the holy evangelists 
of Almighty God ; and nothing but the prejudices of 
association on the one side, or timidity on the other, can 
hold us back from doing the duty we owe to our coun- 
try in this crisis." Mr. Morrill made an eifective reply 
to Mr. Cowan and Mr. Collamer, and an earnest appeal 
for the bill. Mr. Howe (Rep.) of Wisconsin expressed 
his doubts. Mr. Davis again addressed the Senate. 
He asked '^ that slaves should have the same fate with 
other property." He did "not object to confiscating 
slaves with other property, upon condition that the pro- 
ceeds should go into the treasury." Mr. Clark (Rep.) 
of New Hampshire would not sell the confiscated slaves. 
"You take," he said, "a negro from a rebel, as the 
senator proposes. He belongs to the United States. 
The senator contends that you must sell him. You sell 
him. Who buys him? Where do you sell him? 
Where do you find your market? Not in a free State, 
but in a slave State. You sell him to one of these 
slaveholders ; and the rebels come and seize him, and 
have him eno^asred on fortifications in a week." 

On the 2d of May, Mr. Doolittle (Rep.) of Wiscon- 
sin addressed the Senate. Mr. Wade made an emphatic 
speech in favor of action. He declared, that " if every 
man in this Senate, if every man in this Congress, stood 
forth as an advocate for perpetual and eternal slavery, it 



128 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

would only be the poor instrumentalities of man fight 
insr asrainst God. God and Nature have determined the 
question, and we shall not affect it much either way. 
But I throw out these hints to those gentlemen who 
seem to believe that the world will not go round when 
slavery is abolished. As the Almighty sometimes over- 
rules the wickedness of man to perfect a glorious end, 
so the hand of God was never more obvious than in 
this Rebellion. Slavery might have staggered along 
against the improvement of the age, against the common 
consent of mankind, a scoff and a byword on the tongue 
of all civilized nations, for a great many years ; but this 
Rebellion has sealed its fate, and antedated the time when 
it becomes impossible. You cannot escape from this war, 
without the emancipation of your negroes. It will not 
be because I am going to preach it ; it will not be be- 
cause I am going to move any thing in that direction : but 
it is because I see the hand of God taking hold of your 
own delinquency to overrule for good what your rulers 
meant for evil. Proslavery men seem to suppose that 
the Ruler of the universe is a proslavery Being ; but, if 
I have not mistaken him greatly, he is at least a grad- 
ual emancipationist." Mr. Collamer followed in reply 
to Mr. Wade, and in support of his amendment. He 
declared tliat " our legislation should be consecutive and 
in certain progress, rising from step to step, as the 
necessities of the occasion may require ; " and he " had 
attempted to frame his bill on that principle." The 
sixth section provided, when the insurrection has existed 
six months, "then, in that case, the President is author- 
ized, if in his opinion it is necessary to the successful 
suppression of said insurrection, by proclamation to fix 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE ISIADE FREE. 129 

and appoint a day when all persons holden to service or 
labor in any such State, or part thereof, as he shall 
declare, whose service or labor is by the law or custom 
of said State due to any person or persons, who, after the 
day so fixed by said proclamation, shall levy war or par- 
ticipate in insurrection, shall be free." — "It is proposed," 
he said, " by the senator from Massachusetts, that the 
section shall be entirely changed. By this amendment, 
the proclamation is made a matter of no consequence at 
all. The President is left no discretion about it. It is 
a simple declaration, that, in thirty days, the President 
shall issue a proclamation, fixing a day when the slaves 
shall be free, — the slaves of any person who shall be 
engaged in rebellion after the passage of the act, not 
after the time fixed by proclamation. . . . The honorable 
senator from Massachusetts, and the honorable senator 
from Ohio, seem never to have understood the explana- 
tion which I gave before, and I do not know that they 
ever will. Perhaps it is because they do not want to 
understand it. The honorable senator from Massachu- 
setts especially, in offering his amendment and in speak- 
ing upon it yesterday, seemed to be set upon the idea, 
— he entertains it strongly, and he expresses it strongly, 
as belongs to him, — that the existence of slavery 
and the existence of this country under the General 
Government are incompatible. I shall not misrepre- 
sent him : I may have misunderstood him ; but, if I 
did understand him, that is his belief. He thinks 
slavery is the origin of all the difiiculty, and that the 
trouble will continue as long as it exists ; and he comes 
in with tliis amendment, to effect — what? That 
purpose, of course." Mr. Saulsbury (Dem.) of Dela- 



130 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

ware predicted "that in 1870, let this war terminate as 
it may, whether you conquer the seceded States or not, 
if local State governments are preserved in this country, 
there will then be more slaves in the United States than 
there were in 1860. ... I presume that local State gov- 
ernments will be preserved. If they are, if the people 
have a right to make their own laws and to govern 
themselves, — and I presume that even my friend from 
Massachusetts will not object to that, — they will not only 
re-enslave every person that you attempt to set free, but 
they will re-enslave the whole race. I do not mean to 
suggest a thing that I will not favor : I take all the re- 
sponsibility of the utterance in my own person. I say to 
you, sir, and I say to the country, that if you send five 
thousand slaves into the State of Delaware, — we have 
got about two thousand slaves now, and we have about 
twenty thousand free negroes, — if you send five thousand 
more of that class of people among us, contrary to our 
law, contrary to our will, I avow upon the floor of tlie 
American Senate, that I will go before my people for en- 
slaving the whole race, because I say tliat this country is 
the white man's country. God, nature, every thing, has 
made a distinction between the white man and the nesfro : 
and by your legislation you cannot bring up a filthy 
negro to the elevation of the white man, if you try to 
put him upon that platform." 

The Senate, on the 5th of May, resumed the con- 
sideration of the bill; and Mr. Howe of Wisconsin 
spoke in opposition to it, and in reply to several 
senators. Mr. Foster (Rep.) of Connecticut followed 
in a review of the bill and amendments, and in sup- 
port of Mr. Collamer's substitute. 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE 3IADE FREE. 131 

On the 6th, the Senate having resumed the consider- 
ation of the bill, Mr. Wilson withdrew his amendment 
to the sixth section of Mr. Collamer's amendment, and 
moved an amendment in eight sections as a substitute 
for Mr. Collamer's substitute for the original bill. Mr. 
Wilson, in explanation of the sixth section relating to 
slavery, said, that " the amendment of the senator from 
Vermont provides for discharging the slaves of persons 
under certain conditions ; that is, that the President 
may do it if he deems it necessary for the suppression 
of the Rebellion. He puts it in the discretion of the 
President. My amendment makes it imperative upon 
the President to issue his proclamation, immediately 
after the passage of the act, to fix a day, not more than 
thirty days after the act is passed, when the slaves of all 
persons who engage in insurrection or rebellion after 
they have had the warning of thirty days, after the 
time is fixed, shall be made free." Mr. Clark said, 
" The amendment proposed by the senator from Massa- 
chusetts, it strikes me, is an important one. I think it 
goes a good way towards harmonizing some of the 
differences in the minds of senators. If there could be 
time for considering it ftirther, or for maturing it, 
or if it were sent to a committee to perfect it, it 
seems to me the Senate might readily come to some 
conclusion that would be satisfactory. I will move 
that the whole subject, this amendment and all the 
other bills, be committed to a select committee of five, 
for the purpose of being perfected." Mr. Sumner 
(Rep.) of Massachusetts suggested that the commit- 
tee should consist of seven members ; and Mr. Clark 
accepted that suggestion. Mr. Hale said, " There is a 



132 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

difficulty in my mind in regard to the amendment of 
the senator from Massachusetts. I think I have been 
'as anxious and as earnest as anybody to advance- the 
cause of free principles, so far as might be done con- 
sistently with the rights we owe under the Constitution ; 
but it seems to me the machinery of the sixth section 
of the amendment of the senator from Massachusetts is 
objectionable to the exception that it is not in accord- . 
ance with the Constitution." Mr. Wilson said, in 
response to Mr. Hale, " Slavery has made this Kebel- 
lion, and alone is responsible for it ; and yet such has 
been the overshadowing power of slavery, so omnipotent 
has it been in these halls and over this Government, 
that when we, who are the children of democratic in- 
stitutions, who have in our blood, in our being, in our., 
very souls, love of liberty, and hatred of oppression, 
are called upon to act ; when our brethren have been 
foully murdered, and wives and children and fathers are 
bowed in agony of soul all over the country ; when the 
existence of this nation is threatened by this system of 
slavery, — when we, under all these circumstances, are 
called upon to deal with it, such is its lingering power 
over even us, that we can take rebel lives, take rebel 
property, take any thing and every thing, but are re- 
luctant to touch slavery, the cause of all. Sir, if the 
Congress of the United States shall fail to free the 
slaves of rebel masters, the men who are endeavoring* to 
destroy the national life, I believe Congress will fail to 
do the duties of the hour, — the duties that the nation 
and God require at their hands. I feel deeply upon 
this question. The conviction is upon me, that this is 
the path of duty to my country, and that the future 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FlSEE. 133 

peace of the nation requires that this slave interest 
shall be broken down ; and now is the opportunity, — 
an opportunity that only comes to nations once in ages. 
It comes to us now. Let us hail and improve it." 
Mr. Hale said, in reply, " I am willing to go as far as 
anybody, within the limits of the Constitution, to cripple 
slavery ; and I think the Government ought to make 
use of that as a physical agency in suppressing the 
Rebellion, when it is brought in contact against it. All 
that I suggested to the senator was, that I did not 
think the machinery he had prescribed in this sixth sec- 
tion was precisely the mode and manner of doing the 
thing ; because it does not look like a war measure, 
and it does not look like availing ourselves of the phys- 
ical assistance of that body of men, but it is simply in 
the form of a judicial trial for crime, and pronounces, 
as a punishment for crime, the liberation of the slaves. 
Sir, this new Republican party came into power upon 
the destruction of two parties that had been false on 
this subject ; and now, whatever party may succeed 
this Republican party, — and God only knows what it 
will be, — I hope that they may not write on our tomb- 
stones that we split on the rock on which our prede- 
cessors did ; and that is in want of fidelity to our 
declared principles. If there is one principle that we 
have declared often, early, and long, it is fidelity to the 
Constitution, — to its requirements and Its restrictions. 
The mourners go about the streets in all the places that 
used to be the high places of power of those two old 
parties, mourning over their derelictions; and I trust 
that will not be left to us. No, sir : let us, under the 
flag, — the old flag, — under the Constitution, — the old 

12 



134 CEETAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

Constitution, — carry on the warfare in which we are 
eno-aired ; and, if we fail, we shall not fail because the 
Constitution does not give us power enough, but 
because we are recreant, and do not use the power that 
it does give us." 

Mr. Harris would vote for the proposition of Mr. 
Clark to commit all the bills and amendments to a 
special committee. "The recommittal," said Mr. 
Wade, " of this bill, after it has been for four months 
under our consideration, and at a period which I hope 
is towards the end of this session, will be a proclama- 
tion to the people that will fill them with more de- 
spondency for your Government than the loss of half 
a dozen battles ; and it will be viewed with as much 
regret by all the loyal people in tlie seceded States as 
by those in the Northern States." — "The senator 
from Ohio knows well," said Mr. Sumner, " that I 
always diifer from him with regret ; he knows a4so that 
I differ from him very rarely ; but I do differ from him 
to-day. I shall not follow him in what he has said 
on the constitutional question ; nor shall I follow the 
senator from New Hampshire in what he has said on 
that question. The precise point on which we are to 
vote, as I understand it, has been stated by the 
senator from New York. It is, Shall the pending bill 
and all the associate propositions and amendments be 
referred to a select committee, with instructions to 
report forthwith ? Sir, it seems to me, in the present 
stage of this discussion, the time has arrived for such a 
motion." Mr. Trumbull was opposed to recommitting 
the bill tg a special committee ; but " senators favorable 
to the bill insist upon it : I can only acquiesce ; and 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 135 

thfit I desire to do gracefully." Explanatory speeches 
were then made by Messrs. Ten Eyck, Foster, Wade, 
Collamer, Fessenden, and Cowan. Mr. Wilson moved 
to amend Mr. Clark's motion, so that the committee 
should consist of nine members ; and Mr. Clark ac- 
cepted the amendment. Mr. Foster called for the yeas 
and nays, and they were ordered ; and, being taken, re- 
sulted—yeas 24, nays 14. The President appointed 
as the committee, — Mr. Clark, chairman ; Mr. Col- 
lamer, Mr. Trumbull, Mr. Cowman, Mr. Wilson of 
Massachusetts, Mr. Harris, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Hen- 
derson, and Mr. Willey. Mr. Trumbull, at his own 
request, was excused ; and Mr. Harlan was appointed 
in his place. 

Mr. Clark, Chairman of the Select Committee, re- 
ported " a bill to suppress insurrection, and punish 
treason and rebellion ; " and asked to be discharged from 
the further consideration of the several bills referred 
to the committee. On the 16th, on motion of Mr. Clark, 
the Senate, by a vote of 23 to 19, took it up for consid- 
eration. The bill provided, that at any time, after the 
passage of the act, the President might issue his proclama- 
tion, proclaiming that the slaves of persons found, thirty 
days after the issuing of the proclamation, in arms against 
the Government, will be free, any law or custom to the 
contrary ; that no slave escaping from his master shall 
be given up, unless the claimant proves he has not given 
aid or comfort to the Rebellion ; and that the President 
shall be authorized to employ persons of African descent 
for the suppression of the Rebellion. Mr. Davis moved to 
amend the bill by striking out the words, "and all his 
slaves, i^ any shall be declared and made free." — 



136 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

"Then," remarked Mr. Clark, "as I understand it, the 
objection is, not that we take the negro from the master 
by way of punishment, but that we do not give him to 
somebody else, or put him into the public treasury." — 
"Yes, sir," replied Mr. Davis, "that is the objection; 
that you do not sell the negro, — do not appropriate the 
negro as you would other property." The question was 
taken on Mr. Davis's motion, — yeas 7, nays 31. Mr. 
Sumner moved to amend the bill by striking out all after 
the enacting clause of the original bill, and inserting an 
amendment in the form of a new bill. He then addressed 
the Senate in an elaborate, exhaustive, and eloquent 
speech. " There is a saying," said Mr. Sumner, " often 
repeated by statesmen, and often recorded by publicists, 
which embodies the direct object of the war which we are 
now unhappily compelled to wage, —an object sometimes 
avowed in European wars, and more than once made 
a watchword in our own country, — ' indemnit^i for the 
past, and security for the future.' Such should be 
our comprehensive aim ; nor more, nor less. Without 
indemnity for the past, this war will have been waged 
at our cost. Without security for the future, this war 
will have been waged in vain. Treasure and blood will 
have been lavished for nothing. But indemnity and 
security are both means to an end ; and that end is the 
national unity under the Constitution of the United 
States. It is not enough if we preserve the Consti- 
tution at the expense of the national unity ; nor is it 
enough if we enforce the national unity at the expense 
of the Constitution. Both must be maintained. Both 
will be maintained, if we do not fail to take counsel of 
that prudent courage which is never so much needed 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 137 

as at a moment like the present. In declaring the 
slaves free, you will at once do more than in any other 
way, whether to conquer, to pacify, to punish, or to 
bless : you will take from the Rebellion its mainspring 
of activity and strength ; you will stop its chief source 
of provisions and supplies ; you will remove a motive 
and temptation to prolonged resistance ; and you will 
destroy for ever that disturbing influence, wliich, so long 
as it is allowed to exist, will keep this land a volcano, 
ever ready to break forth anew. But, while accom- 
plishing this work, you will at the same time do an act 
of wise economy, giving new value to all the lands of 
slavery, and opening untold springs of wealth ; and you 
will also do an act of justice, destined to raise our na- 
tional name more than any triumph of war or any skill 
in peace. God, in his beneficence, offers to nations, as 
to individuals, opportunity, opportunity^ OPPORTUXITY, 
which, 4)f all things, is most to be desired. Never be- 
fore in history has he offered such as is now ours. Do 
not fail to seize it. The blow with which we smite an 
accursed rebellion will at the same time enrich and 
bless ; nor is there any prosperity or happiness which it 
w^ill not scatter abundantly throughout the land. And 
such an act will be an epoch marking the change from 
barbarism to civiUzation. By the old rights of war, 
still prevalent in Africa, freemen were made slaves ; 
but by the rights of war, which I ask you to declare, 
slaves will be made freemen." 

Mr. Davis said, "I have an amendment to offer, to 
come in at the close of the bill, — that no slave shall 
be emancipated under this act until such slave shall be 
taken into the possession of some agent of the United 

12* 



138 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE IVIADE FREE. 

States, and be 171 transitu, to be colonized without the 
United States of America," — yeas 6, nays 30. Mr. 
Saulsbury moved to strike out the ninth section of the 
bill. Mr. Trumbull would vote with the senator from 
Delaware to strike out the section. He hoped the friends 
of a really efficient measure would vote to strike it out. 
"I would, "he said, "free the slaves of all who shall 
continue in arms after the passage of the act. That 
would be my proposition ; and I cannot conceive how 
it is, when these men are with arms in their hands, as 
the senator from New Hampshire said, shooting our 
brothers and our sons, that we can insist upon holding 
their negroes in their possession to enable them to 
shoot our sons and our brothers." Mr. Wilson said, 
" The motion that has been made, and what has been 
said upon it, impose upon me the necessity of making 
now a motion that I intended to make at some time ; 
and that is, to strike out in the ninth section the 
words ^ at any time,' in the first line, and insert ^imme- 
diately ; ' and to strike out the word ' whenever,' in the 
second line ; and, in the third and fourth lines, to strike 
out * shall deem it necessary for the suppression of this 
Rebellion, he : ' so that the section, if amended as I pro- 
pose, will read, ' That, immediately after the passage of 
this act, the President of the United States shall issue 
his proclamation, commanding all persons immediately 
to lay down their arms,' making it imperative. I think, 
that, since this bill was reported, there are reasons why 
I shall vote that way." Mr. Clark said, "The Senate, 
perhaps, will pardon me for saying, that, in the commit- 
tee, the original proposition stood as the senator from 
Massachusetts proposes now to have it : but we found 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE IkLVDE FREE. 139 

that the measure now reported was the measure upon 
which we could agree, and that we could not agree upon 
any other measure ; and therefore it was reported as it 
stands here. I shall vote for the proposition as it stands 
in the bill, for that reason." — "I shall," said Mr. Cow- 
an, " oppose the amendment of the senator from Massa- 
chusetts, and I believe that I shall vote to strike out the 
section ; and I shall do so for a very simj^le reason ; and 
that is, that it is utterly valueless in the bill." He 
thought "the President and his generals, under the war 
power, clothed with ample authority." Mr. Sumner 
was " very glad to hear the senator make that declara- 
tion, that Gen. Hunter, in his opinion, has the power." 
"If," said Mr. Cowan, " the senator from Massachusetts 
wants an exceedingly fine point to stand upon, I will 
allow him the benefit of it. I hope he understands me ; 
and I hope, too, that he is honorable and manly enough 
to understand what I say in its true sense. I do not 
mean to say that Gen. Hunter has the power as against 
the will of the President, his superior ; but I mean to 
say that the President, the commander-in-chief of the 
army, and the generals of the army, acting in obedience 
to that superior authority, have the power." 

Mr. Fessenden (Rep.) of Maine supported the bill 
reported by the Select Committee. Mr. Wade said, "I 
do not know that we shall get any thing ; but, if we only 
get this bill, we shall get next to nothing." Mr. "VYilley 
opposed the emancipation of the slaves of rebels by 
proclamations. On the 20th, the Senate resumed 
the consideration of the bill ; and Mr. Davis addressed 
the Senate in a very lengthy speech, consuming the 
day, in opposition to the measure. 



140 CEKTAIN SLAVES TO BE IMADE FREE. 

In the House of Representatives, on the 2d of De- 
cember, 1861, Mr. Eliot (Rep.) of Massachusetts' intro- 
duced, on leave, a joint resolution, setting forth, that 
while we disclaim all power under the Constitution to 
interfere by ordinary legislation with the institutions of 
the States, yet the war now existing must be conducted 
according to the usages and rights of military service : 
" That therefore we do hereby declare the President, as 
the commander-in-chief of our army, and the officers in 
command under him, have the right to emancipate all 
persons held as slaves in any military district in a state 
of insurrection against the National Government ; and 
that we respectfully advise that such order of emancipa- 
tion be issued, whenever the same will avail to weaken 
the power of the rebels in arms, or to strengthen the 
military power of the loyal forces." Mr. Dunn (Rep.) 
of Indiana moved to lay the resolution on the table. 
Mr. Yallandigham (Dem.) of Ohio demanded the yeas 
and nays; and they were ordered, — yeas 56, nays 70. 
Mr. Roscoe Conkling (Rep.) of New York moved to 
amend the resolution so as to confine it to slaves held by 
disloyal persons. Mr. Stevens (Rep.) of Pennsylvania 
moved the postponement of the resolution to the 10th ; 
and his motion was agreed to. Mr. Campbell (Rep.) 
of Pennsylvania introduced a resolution declaring that 
Congress should confiscate the property, slaves included, 
of all rebels ; and, on his motion, it was postponed to the 
10th. Mr. Stevens of Pennsylvania offered a resolution 
setting forth that slavery has caused the Rebellion ; that 
there can be no solid and permanent peace and union so 
long as it exists ; that slaves are used as an essential 
means of supporting the war; that, by the law of 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 141 

nations, it is right to liberate the slaves of an enemy to 
weaken his power ; and that the President be requested 
to declare free, and to direct all our generals to order 
freedom to, all slaves who shall leave their masters, or 
who shall aid in quelling the Rebellion. The resolution 
of Mr. Stevens was postponed to the 10th, — the day 
fixed for the consideration of the resolutions introduced 
by Mr. Eliot and Mr. Campbell. 

On the 3d, Mr. Gurley (Rep.) of Ohio gave no- 
tice of his intention to introduce a bill to confiscate 
the property and make free the slaves of persons en- 
gaged in the Rebellion. Mr. Conway (Rep.) of 
Kansas, on the 4th, introduced a resolution touching 
the treatment of slaves in the seceded States ; and it 
was postponed to the 10th for consideration. Mr. 
Bingham (Rep.) of Ohio introduced a bill to confiscate 
the property and free the slaves of rebels ; and, on his 
motion, it was referred to the Judiciary Committee, of 
which he was a member. On the 12th of December, 
the House proceeded to the consideration of the resolu- 
tion introduced by Mr. Eliot the first day of the 
session. Mr. Eliot addressed the House in an earnest 
speech in favor of expressing, at the earliest moment, 
the judgment of the House and the people. "It 
is no time," he said, " for set speech. The times them- 
selves are not set. Speech is depianded, but such 
as shall crystallize into acts and deeds. Thoughts 
of men go beyond the form of words into the realities of 
things." Mr. Eliot deplored the modification of Fre- 
mont's proclamation. The slaves stood " with arms 
stretched out to us, yearning to help us. The shackles 
have fallen from their limbs ; and, as they work for the 



142 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

Government, it does not need that I should say to you, 
that thenceforth and for evermore they become free men." 
Mr. Steele (Dem.) of New York denied the proposition 
that slavery was the cause of this war. "I declare," he 
said, "that the unnecessary agitation of the slavery 
question was the cause of the war." Mr. Conway, 
(Rep.) of Kansas followed Mr. Steele in a speech of 
rare eloquence and power. He declared that " the inex- 
orable and eternal condition of the life of slavery is, that 
it must not only hold its own, but it must get more. 
Such is the unchangeable law, developed from the con- 
flict of slavery with the order of justice ; and no one is 
competent to render a judgment in the case who does 
not recognize it. Sir, we cannot afford to despise the 
opinion of the civilized world in this matter. Our 
present policy narrows our cause down to an ignoble 
struggle for mere physical supremacy ; and for this the 
world can have no genuine respect. Our claim of 
authority, based on a trivial technicality about the proper 
distinction between a Federal Government and a mere 
confederacy, amounts to nothing. The human mind has 
outgrown that superstitious reverence for government 
of any kind which makes rebellion a crime per se ; and 
right of secession, or no right of secession, w^hat the 
world demands to know in the case is, upon which side 
does the morality of the question lie ? As a bloody and 
brutal encounter between slaveholders for dominion, it 
is justly offensive to the enlightened and Christian sen- 
timent of the age.- Yet the fate of nations, no less than 
that of individuals, is moulded by the actions, and these 
by the opinions, of mankind. So that public opinion is 
the real sovereign, after all ; and no policy can be per- 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE IVIADE FREE. 143 

manently successful which defies or disregards it. The 
human mind, wherever found, however limited in devel- 
opment or rude in culture, is essentially logical ; the 
heart, however hardened by selfishness or sin, has a 
chord to be touched in sympathy with suflfering ; and 
the conscience has its ' still small voice,' which never 
dies, to w^iisper to both heart and understanding of 
eternal justice. Therefore, in an age of free thought 
and free expression, the brain and heart and conscience 
of mankind are the lords who rule the rulers of the 
world ; and no mean attribute of statesmanship is quick- 
ness to discern and promptness to interpret and improve 
the admonitions of this august trinity." 

Mr. Harding (0pp.) of Kentucky, on the 17th, spoke 
earnestly against the resolution, and the policy of eman- 
cipating the slaves of rebels. He emphatically asserted 
that " a war upon the institution of slavery would be 
not only unconstitutional and revolutionary, not only 
a criminal violation of the plighted faith of Congress 
and of the Administration, but utterly at war with every 
principle of sound policy. Whoever lives to see that 
fearful and mad policy inaugurated, wdll see the sun of 
American liberty go down in clouds and darkness, to 
rise no more. The last hope of a restoration of the 
Union — the last hope of free government upon this 
continent — will then sink, and utterly perish. If the 
war, righteously begun for the preservation of the Con- 
stitution and the Union, should be changed to an anti- 
slavery war, then Kentucky will unitedly make war 
upon that war ; and, if an army from the North should 
move toward Kentucky to visit upon her the horrors 
of a war for emancipation, then Kentucky will meet 



144 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

that army at the threshold, dispute every inch of ground, 
burn every blade of grass, and resist to the last ex- 
tremity." Mr. Kellogg (Rep.) of Illinois moved to 
refer the resolution of Mr. Eliot and all other kindred 
propositions to the Judiciary Committee, — yeas 77, 
nays 57. 

Mr. Hickman (Rep.) of Pennsylvania, Chairman of 
the Committee on the Judiciary, on the 20th of March 
reported back the resolutions and bills referred to the 
committee, with a recommendation that they do not 
pass. Mr. Bingham submitted a minority report, as a 
substitute for the bill he had introduced early in the 
session. This substitute declared free, and for ever 
released from servitude, the slaves of persons giving aid 
to the Rebellion. Mr. Porter (Rep.) of Indiana moved 
to amend the substitute by striking it out, and inserting 
the bill proposed by Mr. Sherman of Ohio in the 
Senate. Mr. Porter said that " the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Bingham) , out of his honest and implacable 
hatred of slavery, desires, through the provisions of his 
amendment, to give it a stunning blow. While my 
amendment is aimed only at weakening the Rebellion, it 
will go, perhaps, very far towards the end which the 
gentleman desires to see accomplished. The slaveholders 
in the rebel service are chiefly among the officers. Few 
privates own slaves." Mr. Porter then moved to re- 
commit the bill, with instructions to report the bill he 
had offered as a substitute. Mr. Walton (Rep.) of 
Vermont moved to amend the instructions, so that the 
committee shall be instructed to report back Mr. Colla- 
mer's bill, — yeas 33, nays 69. On Mr. Porter's motion, 
the yeas were 25 ; the nays, 73. 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 145 

On the 23d of April, Mr. Sheffield of Rhode Island 
moved to lay Mr. Bingham's amendment on the table, 
— yeas 54, nays 49. Mr. Olin (Rep.) of New York 
moved to refer the bills and resolutions reported back 
by the Committee on the Judiciary to a special com- 
mittee of seven. Mr. Colfax (Rep.) of Indiana " plead- 
ed only for action." He would cheerfully support Mr. 
Trumbull's bill, or the bill of Mr. Sherman. "I can 
vote," he declared, " for nearly any one of them, variant 
as their provisions are." Mr. Dunn of Indiana would 
" adopt a moderate but steadfast policy." Mr. Bing- 
ham eloquently appealed fo;* such legislation as should 
punish treason, and give security and repose to the 
country. " I beg gentlemen to consider that whoever 
lays violent hands uj^on the fabric of just civil govern- 
ment, for the purpose of its overthrow, lays violent 
hands upon the very ark of the covenant of the living 
God, and forfeits and should be deprived at once of 
property and life. Why, sir, there is no interest visible 
to the eye of man this side of the grave more important 
to all classes, old and young, to the innocent and guilty 
alike, than a wise and just government. That is pre- 
cisely the instrumentality through which it comes to be 
that men live apart, and separate in families. That is 
the precise instrumentality through which it comes to be 
that mothers and daughters are respected and protected 
in the land, and are not owned and sold as slaves. 
That is the precise instrumentality through which it 
comes to be that little children are secure and protected 
by the hearthstone. The gentleman knows that never, 
since the morning stars sang together, have any people 

upon tliis planet come up out of the darkness of savage 

13 



146 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

life to the beautiful and brilliant light of civilization, 
save under the shelter, care, and protection of civil 
government ; and yet, when these armed traitors strike 
at this most beneficent and wisest of all governments 
ever given to the children of men, and we propose to 
disarm them by taking from them the means by which 
and through which they would accomplish their destruc- 
tive purposes, the gentleman rises, and talks about the 
inhumanity of such legislation." 

Mr. Duell (Eep.) of New York said, "In view of 
these things, it becomes a question of no small moment. 
What ought the Government to do with slavery now ? 
T\Tiat policy, if any, should the loyal men of the coun- 
try adopt respecting the future treatment of this cancer 
upon the body politic? The reply which ought, in my 
judgment, to be made to these questions, is this : ^ Since 
slavery made the war, let slavery feel the war J* " 

Mr. Patton (Rep.) of Pennsylvania urged action; 
and Mr. Hickman opposed the bills, " because the Pres- 
ident had all power now." Mr. Crittenden thought 
these bills tended to create the idea, " that our whole aim 
is to make the war an abolition measure." Mr. Love- 
joy (Rep.) of Illinois resumed the discussion on the 
24th of April. " I am for the Union entire," declared 
Mr. Lovejoy ; " but I am not for the return of the domi- 
nation and tyranny of slavery, which has not allowed me 
for the last quarter of a century to tread the soil of more 
than one-half of the Territories of these United States. 
... I insist, therefore, that slavery must perish, in 
order that American citizens may have the enjoyment 
of all their rights. I desire the seceded States to come 
back, but to come in such naapTier that I can pnjoy the 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 147 

privileges of an American citizen within their limits. 
I have been excluded long enough. In other words, 1 
want them to come back free, and not slave States. 
Long enough have American citizens been subjected to 
the cord and knife, and last, and worst of all, the ter- 
rible indignity of the scourge, for no other cause than 
holding and uttering principles in favor of freedom, im- 
partial and universal. . . . The gentleman from Ken- 
tucky says he has a niche for Abraham Lincoln. Where 
is it? He pointed upward. But, sir, should the Presi- 
dent follow the counsels of that gentleman, and become 
the defender and perpetuator of human slavery, he 
should point downward to some dungeon in the temple 
of Moloch, who feeds on human blood, and is surrounded 
with fires, where are forged manacles and chains for 
human limbs ; in the crypts and recesses of whose 
temple, woman is scourged and man tortured, and out- 
side the walls are lying dogs gorged with human flesh, 
as Byron describes them stretched around Stamboul. 
That is a suitable place for the statue of one who would 
defend and perpetuate human slavery. ... I, too, have 
a niche for Abraham Lincoln ; but it is in Freedom's 
holy fane, and not in the blood-besmeared temple of 
human bondage; not surrounded by slaves, fetters, and 
chains, but with the symbols of freedom ; not dark with 
bondage, but radiant with the light of liberty. In that 
niche he shall stand proudly, nobly, gloriously, with 
shattered fetters and broken chains and slave-whips be- 
neath his feet. If Abraham Lincoln pursues the path 
evidently pointed out for him in the providence of God, 
as I believe he will, then he will occupy the proud posi- 
tion I have indicated. That is a fame worth liviiig for ; 



148 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

ay, more, that is a fame worth dying for, though that 
death lead through the blood of Gethsemane and the 
agony of the accursed tree. That is a fame which has 
glory and honor and immortality and eternal life. Let 
Abraham Lincoln make himself, as I trust he will, the 
emancipator, the liberator, as he has the opportunity of 
doing, and his name shall not only be enrolled in this 
earthly temple, but it will be traced on the living stones 
of that temple which rears itself amid the thrones and 
hierarchies of heaven, whose top stone is to be brought 
in with shouting of ' Grace, grace unto it ! '" 

Mr. Koscoe Conkling demanded the previous ques- 
tion on Mr. Olin's resolution to refer the resolutions and 
bills to a select committee, — yeas 71, nays 47. The 
question recurring on the adoption of the resolution, 
Mr. Vallandigham demanded the yeas and nays, and 
they were ordered, — yeas 90, nays 31 ; and the Speaker 
announced, on the 28th, the following as the commit- 
tee, — Abraham B. Olin of New York, Thomas D. 
Eliot of Massachusetts, John W. Noell of Missouri, 
John Hutchins of Ohio, Robert Mallory of Kentucky, 
Fernando C. Beaman of Michigan, and George T. 
Cobb of New Jersey. Mr. Olin, at his own request, 
was excused from serving on the committee ; and Mr, 
Sedgwick (Rep.) of New York was appointed. 

On the 30th, Mr. Eliot, by unanimous consent, in- 
troduced two bills, which were severally read a first 
and second time, referred to the special committee on 
the confiscation of rebel property, and ordered to be 
printed : " A bill to confiscate the property of rebels 
for the payment of the expenses of the present Rebellion, 
and for other purposes ; ' and " A bill to free from ser- 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 149 

vitude the slaves of rebels engaged in abetting the 
existing Rebellion against the Government of the United 
States." On the 14th of May, Mr. Eliot "reported back 
these bills by the direction of the committee ; and, on 
the 20th, the House proceeded to their consideration. 
The debate ran through several days, and was partici- 
pated in by several members. 

JVIrr Eliot (Rep.) of Massachusetts opened the debate 
in support of these twin measures of confiscation and 
emancipation, and closed by saying, "The strength of 
our Government, the resources of its loyal citizens, the 
young men of our homes, the hope and the pride of our 
life, have been offered up a free sacrifice upon the altar 
of their country. The war yet continues. Hundreds of 
thousands of rebel soldiers compose their armies, led on 
in the field, and sustained in council and in Congress, by 
traitors, whose property, employed for your destruction, 
this bill will confiscate, and whose slaves your rightful 
action will set free. My friends, let there be no hesita- 
tion here. The time has come. Your country demands 
your intervention. By your allegiance to the Constitu- 
tion, you have sworn to protect, and the free institutions 
our fathers established, I invoke you to consummate 
quickly this needful legislation, which shall crush out 
this foul Rebellion, and insure domestic tranquillity for 
evei'more." 

Mr. Noel (Union) of Missouri supported these bills, 
" as the only means by which our loyal people can be 
protected."- — "I would set free," said Mr. Riddle 
(Rep.) of Ohio, " the slaves of every man and woman 
engaged in this Rebellion. The guilt of the master 
should inure at least to the benefit of the slave, and 

13* 



150 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

from this huge crime should spring a gi-eater bene- 
ficence." — "It is slavery," said Mr. Windom (Rep.) 
of Minnesota, " that vitiated the conscience, destroyed 
the morals, brutalized the soul, and, in its own foul 
fens, generated these monsters of wickedness, whose 
mad attempts to destroy the Republic are characterized 
by the frightful excesses to which I have referred. All 
he want, misery, strife, treachery, bloodshed, barbari- 
ity, and desolation, which now stalks through this once- 
happy country, have their origin in the fell system of 
human bondage which it has nourished and protected." 
Mr. Voorhees (Dem.) of Indiana addressed the House 
in condemnation of the policy of the Government. Mr. 
Lansing (Rep.) of New York, in an earnest speech, 
said, " As my abhorrence of slavery could not be in- 
creased by its abuses, if it is capable of them ; so no 
mitigation of the system, if it is capable of mitigation, 
could lessen that abhorrence. No matter to me whether 
every slaveholder were either a Legree or a St. Clair : 
my detestation of the system would be the same in 
either case ; for, sooner or later, it will involve in itself 
every other crime." Mr. Mallory (Dem.) of Ken- 
tucky followed Mr. Lansing in an elaborate speech. 
He "entered his solemn protest" against the charge, 
that slavery was the cause of the war. "I am no 
propagandist of slavery," he avowed. " I am the 
owner of slaves, and the descendant of men, who, as far 
back as I can trace them in America, were the owners 
of slaves ; and I have made the declaration upon this 
floor, that the condition of slavery is the very best con- 
dition in which you can place the African race. That 
is my deliberate conviction. I mean here in the United 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 151 

States of America, and in those States where slavery 
exists." Mr. Wallace (Rep.) of Pennsylvania spoke 
for the adoption of these measures, and Mr. Phelps 
(Dem.) of Missouri followed in opposition. "We 
have held back," said Mr. Blair (Rep.) of Pennsyl- 
vania, " these powerful engines of military policy, in 
the hope that the enemies of the nation would return to 
reason and repentance. At all events, it is time for us 
to try what virtue there is in downright earnestness of 
purpose. I have not a fear of its results, either upon 
the war, or upon the welfare of the people South or North. 
I believe that even this generation will realize the bless- 
ings which will flow from such a policy. It will teach 
the world two things better than they have ever been 
taught before, — the unity of this nation, and the unity 
of the human family. When Peace shall come again, 
she will not tarry with us as a wayfarer, but will dwell 
with us. The nation, with all cause of fraternal strife 
banished, will be fitted for a better life ; and, wherever 
its flag shall float, it will command the respect and the 
honor and the love of men." Mr. Rollins (Rep.) of 
New Hampshire earnestly advocated the measures. 
" The path of duty," he said, " never shone so bright 
for a people as it does for us to-day. As we advance, 
it g-rows briirhter. The President's message recom- 
mending emancipation was the rending of the veil. 
The gift of freedom to a few poor, but oh ! how grate- 
ful recipients, has returned to bless the hearts of mil- 
lions who bestowed it. A deed more rich in virtue, 
more fruitful in the approving of conscience, more 
blessed with the smiles of Almighty God, stands not on 
the records of this nation." Mr. Kerrigan (Dem.) of 



152 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

New York spoke next in opposition to these bills, 
because they tended "to create distrust in the public 
mind." Mr. Menzies (0pp.) of Kentucky opposed any 
leo-islation, but declared that " we are not bound to 
prevent the escape of the slaves of rebels, if they are in 
the way of our armies. We are not bound to prevent 
our soldiers from using them, when they can be turned 
to our advantage. We make no war upon slavery in 
the States. We are fighting for the Constitution. If 
slavery is necessarily and incidentally injured in the 
progress of the war, set the injury down to the account 
of the Rebellion. They would have it. The rebels 
must attempt the destruction of their bulwark, the Con- 
stitution : we must defend it. Their slaves may take 
advantage of the conflict and confusion to desert such 
silly masters. Such injury is chargeable to those who 
make war upon the Government." Mr. S. C. Fessen- 
den (Rep.) of Maine thought "the early antislavery 
men have lived to see that * he who has God on his 
side is always in the majority.' We learned the lesson 
at their feet, and from their success to rely upon the 
merits of our cause and upon God, who to the right 
will give the victory." Mr. Grider (0pp.) of Ken- 
tucky was now opposed to confiscation and emancipa- 
tion. Mr. Babbitt (Rep.) of Pennsylvania was com- 
pelled by his settled convictions to say, that, in his 
opinion, " one of the most efficient means of speedily 
crushing out the Rebellion and preserving the Union 
would be the adoption of measures uj^on the basis in- 
dicated in the bill before us for freeing from servitude 
the slaves of persistent rebel masters." Mr. Sheffield 
(Dem.) of Rhode Island earnestly opposed the policy 



CEKTAIN SLAVES TO BE JVIADE FREE. 153 

of confiscation and emancipation embodied in these 
bills, as unauthorized by the Constitution. 

Mr. Sedgwick (Rep.) of New York offered an amend- 
ment to the bill. " The recital of that amendment avers," 
said JVIi:. Sedgwick, " that eleven States formerly of the 
Union, combined together under the title of ^ The Con- 
federate States of America,' have made war upon and 
rebelled against the Government of the United States, 
and continue in such war and rebellion. Upon that 
fact I propose to base an enactment, by which it shall be 
the duty of every commanding officer of a naval or mili- 
tary department, within any portion of those States, in 
some w^ay, by proclamation or otherwise, to invite all 
loyal persons — and I mean to include in that slaves — 
to come within the lines, and be enrolled in the service 
of the United States ; and I mean by that any service 
which they can render, civil or military : and that it 
shall be the duty of such commanding officers to enroll 
every such person, and employ such of them as may be 
necessary in the service of the United States ; and the 
reward for that service I propose to make freedom to 
them and their descendants for ever. I include in that 
the slaves not only of rebels, but of persons claiming to 
be loyal ; but I propose for these compensation, and I 
also propose compensation for the services of all such 
as may be claimed by widows and minors. I claim the 
right to this enactment under the war power ; and I shall 
attempt to show that it exists, and that it is wdthin the 
power of Congress to legislate in regard to it. I will 
have no disguise of my opinions or intentions. My 
stand upon the subject is open to all observation. 1 am 
for destroying this hostile institution in every State 



154 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

that has made war upon this Government : and, if we 
have military strength enough to reduce them to pos- 
session, I propose to leave not one slave in the wake of 
our advancing armies ; not one." — "I believe," declared 
IVIr. F. P. Blair, jun. (Rep.) , of Missouri, " that, as long 
as the negro race remains here, there is no hope, no pos- 
sibility, nor is it in any aspect desirable, that they should 
have any share in the political power of the country. I 
think that the Almighty intended them for the tropics, 
or that the tropics were intended for them : one or the 
other is true. Every attempt on the part of the human 
race to frustrate that intention has brought destruction 
on the men who attempted it." — "Are we," inquired 
Mr. Spaulding (Rep.) of New York, "to be struck 
hard at every opportunity, without giving hard blows in 
return? I trust not. War means to strike often, and 
strike hard on both sides, — ^an eye for an eye, and a 
tooth for a tooth.' War teaches us to use all the means 
within our power to strengthen ourselves and to weaken 
our enemy. Let us weaken him in every possible way 
within the rules of civilized warfare. We should strike 
him personally, strip him of his property, and strike the 
shackles from every slave, that, by his labor and services, 
gives him support. These are the rights of war ; and I 
am prepared to see them fully enforced." Mr. Sargent 
(Rep.) of California desired "to see this Rebellion 
utterly overthrown ; and therefore I vote for these 
measures." Mr. Loomis (Rep.) of Connecticut said, 
" We are told that the Constitution is in the way. But 
I remember how the Constitution has been perverted 
from the first in aid of these conspirators against the life 
of the nation. It has been like a jug, with the handle 



CEKTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 155 

on the rebel side. Every single step which the National 
Government has taken in the assertion of its riofhtful 
prerogatives has been met with the same cry, — ' Stop ! 
you are violating the Constitution ! ' At the com- 
mencement of the Rebellion, the Constitution had become 
so perverted in its construction, as to become like ]Mil- 
ton's bridge, that led — 

* Smooth, easy, inoflfensive, down to hell/ 

As we look backward through the history of the usurpa- 
tions of the slave power in our land, it seems to have 
been a deliberate purpose so to emasculate our organic 
law as to make secession easy. The Constitution was 
all bristling with vitality and power to guarantee, protect, 
and extend slavery, although slavery was nowhere named 
in that sacred instrument ; while liberty, though every- 
where guarded by the most explicit guaranties, has had 
no more meaning for many years past, in the estimation 
of proslavery commentators, than it had in the old 
French dictionary, where it was defined only as ^ a word 
of three syllables.' " 

Mr. Holman (war Dem.) of Indiana made an ear- 
nest and eloquent speech against the policy of emanci- 
pation, because it would " divide your councils, and 
weaken the strength of your armies." "As one of the 
representatives of Indiana," he said, "I have supported, 
sir, and will still support, every just measure of this 
Administration to restore the Union. No partisan in- 
terest shall control me when the Republic is in danger. 
I place the interest of my country far above every other 
interest. I will make any sacrifice to uphold the Gov- 
ernment ; but I will not be deterred from condemning. 



156 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

at this time, this or any other series of measures — the 
offspring of misguided zeal and passion, or the want of 
faith in our people — which tends to defeat the hope 
of a restoration of the Union. The citizen soldier, 
stricken down in battle or worn out by the weary 
march, falls a willing sacrifice for the Constitution of 
his country, and his dying eyes light up with hope as 
they catch the gleam of its starry symbol, while we 
deliberate on measures which would overthrow the one, 
and blot out the stars from the other." 

Mr. Julian (Rep.) of Indiana made a vigorous and 
eloquent speech in favor of the extinction of slavery in 
the rebel States. "This clamor for the Union as it 
was," he said, "comes from men who believe in the 
divinity of slavery. It comes from those who would 
restore slavery in this district if they dared ; who would 
put back the chains upon every slave made free by our 
army ; who would completely re-establish the slave 
power over the National Government, as in the evil days 
of the past, which have culminated at last in the present 
bloody strife ; and who are now exhorting us to ' leave 
oft' agitating the negro question, and attend to the work 
of putting down the Rebellion.' Sir, the people of the 
loyal States understand this question. They know that 
slavery lies at the bottom of all our troubles. They 
know, that, but for this curse, this horrid revolt against 
liberty and law would not have occurred. They know 
that all the unutterable agonies of our many battle- 
fields, all the terrible sorrows which rend so many thou- 
sands of loving hearts, all the ravages and desolation of 
this stupendous conflict, are to be charged to slavery. 
They know that its barbarism has moulded the leaders 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 157 

of this Rebellion into the most atrocious scoundrels of 
the nineteenth century, or of any century or age of the 
world. They know that it gives arsenic to our soldiers, 
mocks at the agonies of wounded enemies, fires on 
defenceless women and children, plants torpedoes and 
infernal machines in its path, boils the dead bodies of 
our soldiers in caldrons, so that it may make drinking- 
cups of their skulls, spurs of their jaw-bones and finger 
joints as holiday presents for ' the first families of Vir- 
ginia ' and the ^ descendants of the daughter of Poca- 
hontas.' They know that it has originated whole broods 
of crimes never enacted in all the ages of the past ; and 
that, were it possible, Satan himself would now be 
ashamed of his achievements, and seek a change of 
occupation. They know that it hatches into life, under 
its infernal incubation, the very scum of all the villanies 
and abominations that ever defied God or cursed his 
footstool ; and they know that it is just as impossible 
for them to pass through the fiery trials of this war, 
without feeling that slavery is their grand antagonist, as 
it is for a man to hold his breath, and live." 

Mr. Arnold (Rep.) of Illinois eloquently said, "The 
cause which bore the cross in 1850 wears the crown to- 
day. *No power can die that ever wrought for truth,' 
while the political graves of recreant statesmen are elo- 
quent with warnings against their mistakes. Where are 
those Northern statesmen who betrayed liberty in 1820 ? 
They are already forgotten, or remembered only in their 
dishonor. Who now believes that any fresh laurels 
were won in 1850 by the great men who sought to gag 
the people of the free States, and lay the slab of silence 
on those truths which to-day write themselves down, 

14 



158 CEKTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

along with the guilt of slavery, in the flames of civil 
war? Has any man in the whole history of American 
politics, however deeply rooted his reputation or godlike 
his gifts, been able to hold dalliance with slavery, and 
live ? I believe the spirit of liberty is the spirit of God ; 
and, if the giants of a past generation were not strong 
enough to wrestle with it, can the pigmies of the pres- 
ent ? It has been beautifully said of Wilberforce, that he 
' ascended to the throne of God with a million of broken 
shackles in his hands as the evidence of a life well 
spent.' History will take care of his memory ; and 
when our own bleeding country shall again put on the 
robes of peace, and Freedom shall have leave to gather 
up her jewels, she will not search for them among the 
political fossils who are now seeking to spare the rebels 
by pettifogging their cause in the name of the Constitu- 
tution, while the slave power is feeling for the nation's 
throat." 

Mr. Harding (0pp.) of Kentucky pronounced the 
policy of emancipating the slaves of rebels " the weak- 
est and most disastrous policy ever thought of." Mr. 
Richardson (Dem.) of Illinois said, "The bills now 
under consideration propose to violate not only your 
pledges, but, at the same time, the Constitution. You 
forget your promises : you advocate these bills, and urge 
their passage through this House." — "Pass these bills 
under consideration," said Mr. Dunlap (0pp.) of Ken- 
tucky, " and we enter upon a new life. A new stage 
is erected before us ; and upon it, for weal or for woe, 
we shall have to encounter the realities of an untried 
experiment." Mr. Clements (Union) of Tennessee 
opposed the bills. Mr. Noel of Missouri earnestly ad- 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE INIADE FREE. 159 

vocated the bills. He said, "Perhaps, sir, in standino* 
up here for the safety and security of the loyal people 
there, I may be signing my political death-warrant : 
but, sir, if I go down, I will go down, like the heroes of 
the ' Cumberland,' with my flag still flying ; and my last 
act shall be that of pouring a broadside into the ranks 
of treason. ... I was charmed with the eloquence of 
the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Thomas) a few days since. To his patriotic sentiments I 
heartily subscribe. In devotion to the Constitution, 
I claim to go as far as he. We look at it, how^ever, 
from a different standpoint, and give it a different con- 
struction. When I heard his impassioned language, 
my pleasure was not unmixed with pain. My mind 
ran back to the desolation and ruin of my own section, 
I wondered how it could be that a c^entleman hailino^ 
from a district in the Old Bay State, w^hich had fur- 
nished so many jewels in the crown of our national 
glory, could find no balm in the Constitution to cure 
the ills of patriots and loyalists, or guaranties for their 
security and protection. Sir, must I go back to the 
persecuted Union men of Missouri, who have been 
robbed and plundered without mercy by their rebel ene- 
mies, and tell them that the Constitution is in the way 
of any effective legislation that would hold the enemy's 
property as security for their safety ? !Must I tell them 
tliat their wives will have again to do like the mother 
of Ishmael, — take up their little ones, and flee to the 
wilderness ? " 

"The men who have instigated this Rebellion," said 
Mr. Ely (Rep.) of New York, "not upon the impulse 
of a day, but as the culmination of passions which have 



160 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

been nursed for a generation, and which have not merely 
become as enduring as Hfe, but which will be transmit- 
ted as heir-looms of hate from father to son, are the 
great land barons of the South. They have nursed their 
pride in stately mansions, and by the contemplation of 
broad acres. They will never forgive or forget the 
grief of the defeat which is impending over them. They 
never can or will become truly loyal; 'and, if we leave 
them in possession of the estates which have made them 
powerful, it is impossible that the South will be in our 
day any thing but a slumbering political volcano, liable 
at any moment to belch forth smoke and fire and devas- 
tating lava." Mr. Shanks (Rep.) of Indiana thought 
it " stran2:e that an American Conc^ress should be so 
unaccountably infatuated with the high crime of slavery 
as to falter and fall before it even in its treasons." Mr. 
Hutchins (Kep.) of Ohio could " see no reason why loyal 
white men should be obliged to go to the South, with 
its sultry climate, and endure all the dangers and hard- 
ships of that climate, from tenderness to the views of 
loyal slaveholders." Mr. Beaman (Rep.) of Michigan 
eloquently advocated these measures of confiscation and 
emancipation. "Can it be doubted that the rebels are 
in earnest? Does any man imagine that they will ever 
yield, and lay down their arms, until compelled to do so 
by force ? Do they now employ any thing less than their 
entire resources, energy, and skill? Will the taking 
away of four millions of their population — three- 
fourths or more of their industrial classes — increase 
their hopes, courage, and capacity for evil? ... It has 
been repeatedly intimated on this floor, that the passage 
of these bills, and especially of the one contemplating 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 161 

a contingent emancipation of slaves, would create dis- 
sensions at the North, and seriously impair the efficiency 
of the army. Indeed, gentlemen have gone the length 
to predict that it would result in mutiny, and cause the 
troops to lay down their arms, and disband. . . . Does 
any sane man believe that Northern freemen engaged in 
this war for the purpose of protecting and sustaining 
slavery? Why should they secure to the master his 
slave, rather than his cotton, his horse, or his ox? 
What cause of animosity have they against the poor 
bondman ? What interest have they in maintaining and 
perpetuating the peculiar institution? What object 
have they in strengthening the resources of the enemy ? 
yrhence comes this deep and all-absorbing love of 
slavery in the hearts of Northern freemen, — a love that 
commands them to forget country, the graves of mur- 
dered brothers, and even the necessary means of self- 
preservation ? Does it come from party ties and party 
influences ? The love of country is stronger than the 
love of party. Republicans are not wedded to the 
institution, and Slavery slew Democracy in the Charles- 
ton Convention. Slavery, according to a senator from 
South Carolina, made these same Northern freemen 
mud-sills. Slavery made Kansas a field of blood. 
Slavery has destroyed freedom of speech, and freedom 
of the press. Slavery has whipped, driven from their 
homes, and even hung, inoffensive native-bom American 
citizens. Slavery has smitten with blight and mildew 
fifteen States of the Union, and barbarized millions of 
our population. And, finally. Slavery has made war 
upon the United States, and has already slain fifty thou- 
sand of her loyal men. Mutiny, disband, and lay down 



162 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FEEE. 

their arms, because you remove poison from their cups, 
and turn pistols from their breasts ! Mutiny, disband, 
and lay down their arms, lest you should, in self-defence, 
strangle the monster, the serpent in this our garden of 
Eden, — the author of all our woes ! " — "Slavery, being 
in itself wrong," said Mr. Rice (Rep.) of Maine, "can, 
as a system, only be secure in wrong government ; being 
contrary to natural right and justice, it knows no laws 
but those of aggression and force ; being in the habitual 
exercise of despotic power over an inferior race, it 
learns to despise and disregard the rights of all races. 
It has ^ sown the wind ; ' let it ^ reap the whirlwind.' By 
the laws of peace, it was entitled to protection, and had 
it ; by the laws of war, it is entitled to annihilation. 
In God's name, let it still have its right." Mr. Han- 
chett (Rep.) of Wisconsin declared, that he "who 
chooses to brave the moral sense of mankind, by affect- 
ing to own man as property, does so with a full appre- 
ciation of all moral, social, and political consequences. 
He who pays his money for human brains and human 
leo^s does so with the full knowledsje that brains were 
made to think, and that legs were made to run. He 
takes his risk for time and for eternity, for peace and for 
war, for good or for evil, subject to all the incidents of 
his unnatural tenure." Mr. Hanchett closed his remarks 
with the declaration, that "all the people ask of the 
Administration is, that they yield neither to local pre- 
judices or interest on the one hand, nor neglect the 
plain suggestions afforded by current events on the 
other ; and that, to save the loyalty of a few slavehold- 
ers, the patriotic aspirations of millions of unconditional 
Union men be not divided and crushed." 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 163 

Mr. Price (0pp.) of Missouri was "utterly opposed 
to any measure which looks to the emancipation of 
slaves, without the free consent of their masters." Mr. 
Price thought, for " the origin of the war," we must " go 
quite behind the negro : " the true cause was " the lust 
of power, restless and unsatiable ambition. It is," he 
declared, "this unrepublican fondness for distinction, 
parade, and display, this itching for fame, and insatia- 
ble thirst for power, that has led to all our present 
troubles. South-Carolina politicians and wealthy plant- 
ers desired to become lords temporal ; and Charleston 
merchants desired to become princes under King Cotton, 
and control the commerce of the world. With the 
madman's purpose of accomplishing these objects, they 
inaugurated a revolution. I utter no threats nor im- 
precations, nor shall I shed tears of pity if the bold 
traitors who invoked this storm should be whelmed for 
ever beneath its fiery waves. It would only be poetic 
justice if that pestilent triangle, that has never grown 
any thing but rice, tar, and treason, should be devoured 
by the fires of its own kindling." Mr. Kellogg (Kep.) 
of Illinois would support these measures to cripple the 
energies of the rebels, and put an end to this desolating 
war. " AYe should not in our legislation," he said, 
" strike at the unthinking and the unwitting dupes of 
desifrninof men : but we should strike at those whose 
heads have conceived, and whose hearts have been en- 
listed in, this work." Mr. Thomas (0pp.) of Massa- 
chusetts made an elaborate, able, and eloquent speech 
in opposition to these twin measures of confiscation and 
emancipation. "That the bills," he said, "before the 
House are in violation of the law of nations, and of 



164 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

the Constitution, I cannot — I say it with all deference 
to others — I cannot entertain a doubt. My path of 
duty is plain. The duty of obedience to that Constitu- 
tion was never more imperative than now. I am not 
disposed to deny that I have for it a superstitious rever- 
ence. I have ^ worshipped it from my forefathers.' In 
the school of rigid discipline by which we were prepared 
for It, In the struggles out of which it was born, the 
seven years of bitter conflict, and the seven darker years 
in which that conflict seemed to be fruitless of good, in 
the wisdom with which it was constructed and first 
administered and set in motion, in the beneficent Gov- 
ernment it has secured for more than two generations, 
in the blessed influences it has exerted upon the cause 
of freedom and humanity the world over, I cannot fail 
to recognize the hand of a guiding and loving Provi- 
dence. But not for the blessed memories of the past only 
do I cling to it. He must be blinded ^ with excess of 
light,' or with the want of it, who does not see that to 
this nation, trembling on the verge of dissolution, it Is 
the only possible bond of unity." 

Mr. Train (Rep.) of Massachusetts thought the Vir- 
ginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798, originally 
brought forward to embarrass the administration of John 
Adams, have done their work ; that " the germ of disso- 
lution then planted has been industriously nursed by de- 
signing men and inborn traitors, until now the country is 
reaping the bitter fruit. Slavery has added its influence 
in bringing about the Rebellion, and a most potent and 
sinful one. It is an unmitigated curse, and a deadly 
evil ; but this Rebellion would have occurred without it. 
When you add the workings of slavery to the doctrines 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 165 

I have alluded to, every hour brings you with lightning 
speed to practical secession. Slavery debases every 
white person with which it comes in contact, socially 
and politically. It creates a difference of classes incom- 
patible with a republican form of government ; it makes 
the master impatient of control, and insubordinate as a 
citizen of the State, as it compels the master to hold 
a large amount of land to make slavery profitable ; it 
creates a landed aristocracy, who, living upon the labor 
of others, learn to look down with contempt upon those 
who regard labor as honorable ; and finally it creates a 
class of poor whites, who, with the rights of citizens, are 
as ignorant and degraded as the blacks, and who were 
easily inflamed to political madness, when the masters, 
rankling at the loss of political power, and to some 
of them the still greater loss of the opportunity to 
steal from the public treasury, applied the doctrine 
of State rights, and practically of open secession. If, 
then, the event of the Rebellion shall annihilate the doc- 
trine of State rights, the Union may be restored, though 
slavery remains stat nominis umbra." Mr. Whalley 
(Union) of Virginia briefly and earnestly advocated the 
pending bills. Yirginia, he declared, was mobbed out 
of the Union ; and the people of Western Virginia ap- 
pealed to the people of the loyal States for aid, and 
"Massachusetts, responding to our call, loaned us ten 
thousand stand of arms." He emphatically declared, 
" If the policy is carried out which is contended for by 
some of the gentlemen who are opposed to confiscation, 
let me tell them, however honest they may be in their 
opinions to the contrary, the united South and their 
sympathizers In the North will once more take possession 



166 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

of this Government, and fill every seat in this House with 
traitors, and our liberty will be at an end. If we re- 
ceive them back into full fellowship, with their hands all 
dripping with the blood of their countrymen, do you 
suppose that we of Western Virginia can live upon Vir- 
ginia soil? Do you suppose that the patriots of East 
Tennessee can remain quietly in their homes ? No, sir. I 
say to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Thomas) , 
if it is unconstitutional to confiscate the property of these 
rebels, our Constitution is a failure, and our Government 
is at an end ; and I had rather go with my family, and 
live among the wild savages of the West, than remain in 
Western Virginia." Mr. Ashley (Rep.) of Ohio assert- 
ed, that, " more than a year ago, I proclaimed, to the 
constituency which I have the honor to represent, my 
purpose to destroy the institution of slavery, if it became 
necessary to save the country, — as I believed then, and 
still believe it is, — in every State which had rebelled, 
or which should rebel, and make war upon the Govern- 
ment. I then demanded, as I now demand, *that not 
a single slave claimed by a rebel slave-master shall be 
delivered up if he escape, or be left in the wake of our 
advancing and victorious armies.' I then declared, as 
I now declare, that ^justice, no less than our own self- 
preservation as a nation, required that we should confis- 
cate and emancipate, and thus secure indemnity for 
the past, and security for the future.'" Mr. Killinger 
(Kep.) of Pennsylvania thought we were "in danger 
of doing too much, not too little, on this interminable 
negro question." 

Mr. Gurley (Rep.) of Ohio earnestly pressed the 
duty of extending confiscation to the slaves of disloyal 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 167 

masters. "I see not," he said, "why property in slaves 
so called should be regarded as more sacred in title than 
houses, lands, gold, and silver. True, the man who is 
called a slave bears the image of God ; there is upon 
him the moral impress of the Almighty ; it is generally 
believed also that he has a soul, or spirit, that is immor- 
tal ; and it is the common expectation, that he will sit 
down in heaven side by side with his master : but is it 
for this that he, must, amid all the changes and chances 
of government, of war and peace, irrevocably remain 
in servitude, while every other species of property is 
taken from rebels ? Is it, then, true that property in 
husbands, wives, and children, is so intensified in value, 
that even hard coin may be taken, but these never? By 
what rule, pray, of justice, human or divine, or of law, 
shall we seize the horses of rebels, and pass by their 
slaves, when one of the latter is practically worth in 
this war twenty of the former?" Mr. White (Rep.) 
of Indiana advocated the bills, and Mr. Nugen (Dem.) 
of Ohio opposed their enactment. Mr. Cox (Dem.) of 
Ohio delivered a lengthy and discursive speech on eman- 
cipation and its results. He denied that " slavery was 
the cause of the Rebellion ; " it was "the occasion, not 
the cause." He believed secession "the worst crime 
since Calvary," but was " at as great a loss how to appor- 
tion the guilt between secession, and abolition which 
begat it, as I would be to apportion the guilt of the cru- 
cifixion between Judas and the Roman soldiers. . . . 
Must these Northern fanatics," he asked, "be sated 
with negroes, taxes, and blood, with division North and 
devastation South, and peril to constitutional liberty 
everywhere, before relief shall come? They will not 



168 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

halt until their darling schemes are consummated. 
History tells us that such zealots do not and cannot go 
backward." Mr. Wickliffe (0pp.) of Kentucky had 
been nearly fifty years devoted to the service of the 
country ; and, old and crippled, he v^^as sent there to do 
all he could to restore the Union as it was, to preserve 
the Constitution, and enforce the laws. He had served 
with John Quincy Adams in Congress, and he was 
" bound to ascribe his hatred of the South and its insti- 
tutions to his overthrow in 1828 as President. Mr. 
Adams had been the founder, and for life the leader, of 
that party in the North which made constant war upon 
the institution of slavery within the States. It is on 
his wild, heated, and monstrous doctrine," he declared, 
" that the advocates of emancipation by the war of the 
present day base their claim of the power." No lan- 
guage could express his abhorrence of the act of organ- 
izing a brigade of slaves by Gen. Hunter. "I have," 
he declared, "introduced a bill to prohibit this outrage, 
this wrong upon humanity, this stigma upon the charac- 
ter of the nation, which no repentance, not of long 
rolling years, will efface." Mr. Walton (Rep.) of 
Vermont made an elaborate argument on the power to 
enact the pending bills, and in favor of the Senate bill. 
Mr. Law (Dem.) of Indiana emphatically declared 
that " the man who dreams of closing the present un- 
happy contest by reconstructing this Union upon any 
other basis than that prescribed by our fathers, in the 
compact formed by them, is a madman, — ay, worse, a 
traitor ; and should be hung as high as Haman. Sir, 
pass these acts, confiscate under these bills the prop- 
erty of these men, emancipate their negroes, place arms 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 169 

in the hands of these human gorillas to murder their 
masters and violate their wives and daughters, and you 
will have a war such as was never witnessed in the 
worst days of the French Revolution, and horrors never 
exceeded in St. Domingo, for the balance of this cen- 
tury at -least." 

Mr. Maynard (Union) of Tennessee doubted " the 
power of Congress under the Constitution to pass 
either of these bills ; " and he was " opposed to the 
exercise by Congress of any doubtful powers." Mr. 
Eliot; Chairman of the Select Committee, closed the 
debate in an earnest appeal to the House to " show, that 
so far as we are concerned, as the Legislature of the 
country, as the Congress of the United States, we are 
willing, so far as we are constitutionally able, to 
hearken to the cry of our people, to uphold and 
strengthen the arms of the Government, and condemn 
the property of rebel enemies, which is now employed 
for the overthrow of our Constitution and our laws." 
After the passage of the Confiscation Bill, the speaker 
stated that the next question was the House bill to free 
from servitude the slaves of rebels engaged in or abet- 
ting the existing Rebellion, and that the question was 
first on Mr. Blair's amendment to Mr. Sedgwick's 
amendment. Mr. Blair demanded the yeas and nays, 
and 'they w^ere ordered, — yeas 52, nays 95. The 
question then recurred on Mr. Sedgwick's amendment ; 
and Mr. Holman demanded the yeas and nays, and 
they were ordered, — yeas 32, nays 116. The ques- 
tion recurred on Mr. Walton's amendment to Mr. 
Morrill's amendment, and it was lost, — yeas 29, nays 
121 ; and the question recurred on Mr. Morrill's sub- 

15 



170 CERTAIN SLATES TO BE MADE FREE. 

stitute, and it was lost, — yeas 16, nays 126. Mr. 
Eliot's bill was then read a third time. Mr. Vallan- 
digham demanded the yeas and nays on the passage of 
the bill, and they were ordered, — yeas 74, nays 78. 
So the bill was rejected on the 26th of May. 

On the 27th, Mr. Porter moved a reconsideration of 
the vote, for the purpose of moving to recommit the 
bill, with instructions to report as a substitute the 
amendment he had proposed. The motion coming up 
on the 28th, Mr. Porter moved to postpone the consid- 
eration of the motion to the 4th of June. Mr. Holman 
moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table, — 
yeas 69, nays 73. The motion to postpone to the 4th 
of June was agreed to. On the 4th of June, the 
Speaker stated the business in order to be Mr. Porter's 
motion to reconsider the vote rejecting the bill to free 
the slaves of rebels, and recommit the bill with instruc- 
tions. Mr. Porter addressed the House in support of 
his motion to reconsider and recommit. Mr. Vallan- 
digham moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the 
table, — yeas 65, nays 86 ; and Mr. Porter's motion to 
reconsider was then agreed to, — yeas 84, nays 64. 
Mr. Porter then moved to recommit the bill to the 
Special Committee, with instructions to report his sub- 
stitute ; and the motion was agreed to, — yeas 84, 
nays 66. 

Mr. Eliot, Chairman of the Special Committee, on 
the 17th of June reported back the original bill, with 
Mr. Porter's substitute ; and moved several amend- 
ments, all of which were ordered to be printed. On 
the 18th, Mr. Eliot moved a substitute for Mr. Por- 
ter's amendment, reported by the Select Committee, 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 171 

under the instructions of the House. Mr. Eliot's sub- 
stitute provided that all right, title, interest, and claim 
whatever of every person belonging to six classes, — 
the sixth including all persons in armed rebellion sixty 
days after the President shall issue his proclamation, — 
in and to the service of any other persons, shall be for- 
feited, and such persons shall be for ever discharged 
from service, and be freemen; and that the Presi- 
dent appoint commissioners to carry the act into effect. 
IMr. Eliot's amendment was agreed to, — yeas S2, nays 
54; the substitute, as amended, was agreed to, — yeas 
83, nays 52; and the bill, as amended, was passed, — 
yeas 82, nays 54. 

On the 23d of June, the Senate proceeded to the con- 
sideration of the House bill, passed on the 26th of May, 
to confiscate the property of rebels. Mr. Clark moved 
to amend it by striking out all after the enacting clause, 
and inserting the bill reported by the Select Com- 
mittee of the Senate, which combined confiscation 
and emancipation. Mr. Saulsbiu-y (Dem.) of Dela- 
ware addressed the Senate on the 24th of June in op- 
position to the policy of confiscation and emancipation. 
On the 27th, the debate was resumed by Mr. Cowan, 
Mr. Trumbull, Mr. Howard, Mr. Browning, JVIr. Dix- 
on, and JNIr. Sumner. Mr. Trumbull, in reply to Mr. 
Saulsbury, said, " When a negro rushes in to save the 
life of my brother or my son from the bayonet of a 
traitor against this Government, and knocks up the 
weapon that is aimed at his life, I will say/ God speed' 
to the negro, and I will encourage him to do it again. 
Sir, no traitor shall come and murder my cliild or 
my brother, or any soldier of my State or my country, 



172 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

who is fiirhtinof for this Union, with my consent. If 
there is a negro or anybody else in God's world that 
has got an arm to strike him down, I will say, ' Strike ! ' 
I care not who it is." — "Let me confess frankly," 
said Mr. Sumner, " that I look with more hope and 
confidence to liberation than to confiscation. To give 
freedom i*s nobler than to take property : and, on this 
occasion, it cannot fail to be more efficacious ; for, in 
this way, the rear-guard of the Rebellion will be surely 
chano"ed into the advance-o:uard of the Union. There 
is in confiscation, unless when directed against the 
criminal authors of the Rebellion, a harshness incon- 
sistent with that mercy which it is always a sacred duty 
to cultivate, and which should be manifest in propor- 
tion to our triumphs, — ^mightiest in the mightiest.' 
But liberation is not harsh ; and it is certain , if prop- 
erly conducted, to carry with it the smiles of a benig- 
nant Providence." On the 28th, the debate was 
continued by Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. Cowan, Mr. Sum- 
ner, Mr. Clark, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Pomeroy, Mr. 
Sherman, Mr. Wade, Mr. Fessenden, and other sen- 
ators. Mr. Clark's amendment to the Confiscation 
Bill of the House was agreed to, — yeas 21, nays 17. 
Mr. Trumbull moved to amend by inserting the House 
bill to free the slaves of rebels. After debate, Mr. 
Trumbull withdrew his amendment. The vote was 
taken on concurring in Mr. Clark's amendment adopt- 
ed in committee, — yeas 19, nays 17; and the bill as 
amended was then passed, — yeas 28, nays 13. 

In the House, on the 3d of July, the Confiscation Bill, 
as amended by the Senate, was taken up for considera- 
tion. Mr. Crisfield (Dem.) moved to lay the amend- 



CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 173 

ment on the table, — yeas 48, nays 81. The question 
was then taken on the Senate amendment, and it was 
non-concurred in, — yeas 8, nays 124. 

The Senate, on the 8th, proceeded to the considera- 
tion of the Confiscation Bill. Mr. Clark moved to 
insist, and ask a Committee of Conference. Mr. Sher- 
man moved to recede, — yeas 14, nays 23. On Mr. 
Clark's motion to insist, and ask a Committee of Con- 
ference, the yeas were 28, and the nays 10; and Mr. 
Clark, Mr. Harris, and Mr. Wright, were appointed. 
The House, on the same day, on motion of Mr. Eliot, 
voted to insist on its disagreement to the Senate amend- 
ment, and appointed Mr. Eliot, Mr. Wilson (Rep.) of 
Iowa, and Mr. Corning (Dem.) of New York, a Com- 
mittee of Conference on the part of the House. On 
the 11th of July, Mr. Eliot, from the Conference Com- 
mittee, reported in substance the Senate amendment pre- 
pared by Mr. Clark. This report combined confiscation 
and emancipation in one bill. It provided that all slaves 
of persons who shall give aid or comfort to the Rebel- 
lion, who shall take refuge within the lines of the army ; 
all slaves captured from such persons, or deserted by 
them, and coming under the control of the Government ; 
and all slaves of such persons found on being within any 
place occupied by rebel forces, and afterwards occupied 
by the forces of the United States, — shall be deemed 
captives of war, and shall be for ever free, and not again 
held as slaves ; that fugitive slaves shall not be surren- 
dered to persons who have given aid and comfort to the 
Rebellion ; that no person engaged in the military or 
naval service shall surrender fugitive slaves, on pain of 

being dismissed fi:om the service ; and that the Presi- 

15* 



174 CERTAIN SLAVES TO BE MADE FREE. 

dent may employ persons of African descent for the 
suppression of the Rebellion, and organize and use 
them in such manner as he may judge best for the pub- 
lic welfare. Mr. Allen (Dem.) of Illinois moved to 
lay the report of the Conference Committee on the 
table, — yeas 42, nays 78; and the report was then 
agreed to, — yeas 82, nays 42. In the Senate, on the 
12th, the Conference Committee's report was considered. 
Mr. M'Dougall moved to lay it on the table, — yeas 12, 
nays 28. Mr. Carlile demanded the yeas and nays on 
the acceptance of the report, — yeas 27, nays 12. So 
the report was accepted ; and the bill received, on the 
17th of July, the approval of the President of the United 
States. 



175 



CHAPTER YII. 

HAYTI AND LIBERIA. 
MR. Sumner's bill to authorize the appointjient of diplomatic 

REPRESENTATIVES TO HAYTI AND LIBERIA. — MR. SUMNER' S SPEECH. 

— MR. DAVIS'S AMENDMENT. — MR. DAVIS'S SPEECH. — PASSAGE OF THE 
BILL. — THE BILL REPORTED IN THE HOUSE. — MR. GOOCH'S SPEECH. 

— MR. cox's AMENDMENT. — MR. COX'S SPEECH. — MR. BIDDLE'S 
SPEECH. — MR. KELLEY'S SPEECH. — MR. m'kNIGHT'S SPEECH. — MR. 
ELIOT'S SPEECH. — MR. THOMAS'S SPEECH. — MR. FESSENDEN'S SPEECH. 

— MR. MAYNARD'S SPEECH. — MR. CRITTENDEN'S SPEECH. — PASSAGE 
OF THE BILL. 

IN the Senate, on the 4th of February, 1862, IMr. 
Sumner (Rep.) of Massachusetts, from the Com- 
mittee on Foreign Relations, to whom was referred 
so much of the President's message as relates to the 
opening of diplomatic relations with the republics of 
Hayti and Liberia, reported a bill to authorize the 
President of the United States to appoint diplomatic 
representatives to the republics of Hayti and Liberia; 
which was read, and passed to a second reading. 

On the 22d of April, Mr. Sumner moved to take up 
the bill to authorize the President to appoint diplomatic 
representatives to the republics of Hayti and Liberia. 
The motion was agreed to, the bill read a second time, 
and made the special order for the next day. On that 
day, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, pro- 
ceeded to its consideration. It proposed to authorize 
the President of the United States, by and with tlie 



176 HAYTI AND LIBEEIA. 

advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint diplomatic 
representatives of the United States to the republics of 
Hayti and Liberia respectively. Mr. Sumner then 
addressed the Senate in support of the bill in a mod- 
erate and well-guarded speech. " The independence 
of Hayti and Liberia," he said, " has never yet been 
acknowledged by our Government. It would at any 
time be within the province of the President to do 
this, either by receiving a diplomatic representative 
from these republics, or by sending one to them. 
The action of Congress is not necessary, except so 
far as an appropriation may be needed to sustain a 
mission. But the President has seen fit, in his annual 
message, to invite such action. By this bill. Congress 
will associate itself with him in the acknowledgment, 
which, viewed only as an act of justice, comity, and 
good neighborhood, must commend itself to all candid 
minds. . . . A full generation has passed since the 
acknowledgment of Hayti was urged upon Congress. 
As an act of justice too long deferred, it aroused even 
then the active sympathy of multitudes ; while, as an 
act for the benefit of our commerce, it was ably com- 
mended by eminent merchants of Boston and New 
York, without distinction of party. It received the 
authoritative support of John Quincy Adams, whose 
vindication of Hayti was associated with his best la- 
bors in the other House. The right of petition, which 
he steadfastly maintained, was long ago established. 
Slavery in the national capital is now abolished. It 
remains that this other triumph shall be achieved. 
Petitioners who years ago united in this prayer, and 
statesmen who presented the petitions, are dead ; but 



HAYTI AND LIBERIA. 177 

they will all live again in the good work which they 
generously began." 

On the 24th, the Senate resumed the consideration of 
the bill. Mr. Davis (0pp.) of Kentucky moved an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute, to strike out 
all after the enacting clause, and insert, " That the Pres- 
ident of the United States be, and hereby is, author- 
ized to appoint a consul to the republic of Liberia, and 
a consul-general to the republic of Hayti." Mr. Davis 
said, " I am weary, sick, disgusted, despondent, with the 
introduction of the subject of slaves and slavery into 
this Chamber ; and, if I had not happened to be a mem- 
ber of the committee from which this bill was reported, I 
should not have opened my mouth upon the subject. If, 
after such a measure should take effect, the republic of 
Hayti and the republic of Liberia were to ^send their 
ministers plenipotentiary or their charges d'affaires to 
our Government, they would have to be received by the 
President and by all the functionaries of the Govern- 
ment upon the same terms of equality with similar 
representatives from other powers. We recollect, that, 
a few years ago, the refined French court admitted and 
received the representative of Soulouque, who then 
denominated himself, or was called, the Emperor of Do- 
minica, I think." Mr. Sumner: "Of Hayti."— "Well," 
continued Mr. Davis, "a big negro fellow, dressed out 
with his silver or gold lace clothes in the most fantastic 
and gaudy style, presented himself in the court of Louis 
Napoleon, and, I admit, was received. Now, sir, I 
want no such exhibition as that in our capital and in 
our Government. The American minister, Mr. Mason, 
was present on that occasion ; and he was sleeved by 



178 HAYTI AND LIBEKIA. 

some Englishman — I have forgotten his name — who 
was present, who pointed out to him the ambassador 
of Soulouque, and said, ^ What do you think of him? ' 
Mr. Mason turned round, and said, ' I think, clothes 
and all, he is worth a thousand dollars.' " Mr. Davis 
hoped that many colored people would go to Liberia, and 
cast their destinies in the land of their fathers. " I 
made," replied Mr. Sumner, " no allusion to the charac- 
ter of the population of those two republics. I made no 
appeal for them on account of their color. I did not 
allude to the unhappy circumstance in their history, 
that they had once been slaves. It is the senator from 
Kentucky who has introduced that topic into debate. 
And not only this, sir : he has followed it by alluding 
to some possible difficulties — I hardly know how to 
characterize them — which may occur here in social 
life, should the Congress of the United States under- 
take at this late day, simply in harmony with the law 
of nations, and -following the policy of civilized commu- 
nities, to pass the bill now under discussion. I shall 
not follow the senator on those sensitive topics. I con- 
tent myself with a single remark. I have more than 
once had the opportunity of meeting citizens of these 
republics ; and I say nothing more than truth when I 
add, that I have found them so refined, and so full of 
self-respect, that I am led to believe no one of them 
charged with a mission from his government will seek 
any society where he will not be entirely welcome. 
Sir, the senator from Kentucky may banish all anxiety 
on that account. No representative from Hayti or 
Liberia will trouble him." Mr. Davis's amendment was 
rejected, — yeas 8, nays 30. The yeas and nays were 



HAYTI AND LIBERIA. 179 

then ordered on the passage of the bill, — yeas 32, 
nays 7. So the bill passed the Senate. 

In the House, June 2, Mr. Gooch (Rep.) of Mas- 
sachusetts moved that the Committee on Foreign Aifairs 
be discharged from the further consideration of the Sen- 
ate bill authorizing the President of the United States 
to appoint diplomatic representatives to the republics 
of Hayti and Liberia. Mr. Gooch addressed the House 
in a clear, concise, and practical speech in support of 
the measure. He said, "Justice, sound policy, political 
wisdom, commercial interest, the example of other gov- 
ernments, and the wishes of the people of our own, all 
demand that we recognize the independence of Hayti 
and Liberia, and that, in our intercourse with them, we 
place them on the same footing as other independent 
nations." Mr. Cox (Dem.) of Ohio moved as a substi- 
tute the following amendment : " That there be appoint- 
ed for each of the republics of Liberia and Hayti a 
consul-general, who shall be authorized to negotiate any 
treaties of commerce between said republics and this 
country." Mr. Cox said that this was "literally a 
Black-Republican measure. The gentleman from Mas- 
sachusetts intends to let Hayti and Liberia send as 
ministers whomsoever they please to this country. If 
they send negro ministers to Washington City, the gen- 
tleman will say, they shall be welcomed as ministers, 
and have all the rights of Lord Lyons and Count Mer- 
cier." — " What objection," asked Mr. Fessenden (Rep.) 
of Maine, " can the gentleman have to such representa- 
tives ? " — " Objection ? Gracious heavens ! what inno- 
cency ! " exclaimed Mr. Cox. " Objection to receiving 
a black man on an equality with the white men of this 



180 HAYTI AND LIBERIA. 

country? Every objection which instinct, race, preju- 
dice, and institutions make. What is it for, unless it be 
to outrage the prejudices of the whites of this country, 
and to show how audacious the aboHtlonists can behave ? 
How fine it will look, after emancipating the slaves in 
this District, to welcome here at the White House an 
African, full-blooded, all gilded and belaced, dressed 
in court style, with wig and sword and tights and 
shoe-buckles and ribbons and spangles, and many other 
adornments which African vanity will suggest ! How 
suggestive of fun to our good-humored, joke-cracking 
Executive ! With what admiring awe will the contra- 
bands approach this ebony demigod ! while all decent 
and sensible white people will laugh the silly and ridi- 
culous ceremony to scorn." Mr. Biddle (Dem.) of 
Pennsylvania followed Mr. Cox. " I canjiot," he said, 
" recognize this measure as now prompted by that genu- 
ine philanthropy of which political abolitionism is the 
basest of counterfeits. Eminent members of the party 
in power laugh to scorn this colonization scheme." 

On the 3d of June, the House resumed the consider- 
ation of the bill. Mr. Kelley (Rep.) of Pennsylvania 
said, "The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Cox), acting 
under the new code, indulged himself in parading before 
the House the squalor and ignorance of the recently es- 
caped slaves around us, as a fair portraiture of the con- 
dition of the negro race. He drew a melancholy picture. 
But how he enjoyed it ! and with what evident satisfac- 
tion he added each sombre tint ! The gusto with which 
he completed the work gave some indication of how 
jolly he would be, could he join a ring in derisive dance 
around some ulcerous Lazarus or blind Samson fallen 



HAYTI AND LIBERIA. 181 

by the wayside. And then his other picture of the 
negro official in shoe-buckles, knee-breeches, gold lace, 
and bag wig, — it was so funny ! True, I did not hear 
the roars of laughter that should have followed it ; but 
I am quite sure, that, if there was any such person as the 
elder Mr. Weller in the galleries, the effort to suppress 
his laughter must have brought him well-nigh to apo- 
plexy." Mr. M'Knight (Kep.) of Pennsylvania fol- 
lowed in support of the measure. " It has been," he 
said, " to our glory that we planted the seeds of freedom, 
civilization, and Christianity, on the shores of heathen 
Africa, and to our shame that we have so lonsf aban- 
doned the culture and nature of the plant to others." 
Mr. Eliot (Kep.) of Massachusetts discussed the inter- 
ests involved, and the duty of action. Mr. Thomas 

IT 

(0pp.) of Massachusetts spoke briefly but eloquently 
in favor of the bill. " I have no desire," he declared, 
" to enter into the question of the relative capacity of 
races ; but, if the inferiority of the African race were 
established, the inference as to our duty would be very 
plain. If this colony has been built up by an inferior 
race of men, they have upon us a yet stronger claim for 
our countenance, recognition, and, if need be, protec- 
tion. The instincts of the human mind and heart concur 
with the policy of men and governments to help and 
protect the weak. I understand, that to a child or to 
a woman I am to show a degree of forbearance, kind- 
ness, and of gentleness even, which I am not necessarily 
to extend to my equal." JNIr. Fessenden of Elaine 
would be willing to see any one, without regard to color, 
who might be sent as minister by a government "vvith 
whom we have diplomatic relations. " The whole argu- 

16 



182 HAYTI AND LIBERIA. 

ment," he said, " of Mr. Cox, centred in this : Hayti 
and Liberia are not to be acknowledged, — no matter 
what reasons may be given to the contrary, — because, 
if otherwise, we shall see black ambassadors in Wash- 
ington. In my opinion, the speech of the gentleman 
was unworthy of his head and heart." Mr. Maynard 
(Union) of Tennessee would pass the bill. " The policy 
of this, like all other nations, should be to recognize every 
nationality which has entitled itself to that degree of 
consideration. I suppose, if Liberia should send one 
of her citizens here, one of Afric's dusky sons, in some 
diplomatic character, — and even this by no means fol- 
lows from the passage of this bill, — and he should oc- 
cupy a seat in the diplomatic gallery, none of us would 
suiFer more harm from the proximity than we now do 
from our contact with those of the same race who attend 
to the wants of our persons, brushing our coats and 
polishing our boots, in the lobbies of the House." 

Mr. Crittenden (0pp.) of Kentucky said, "I will 
only say, sir, that I have an innate sort of confidence 
and pride that the race to which we belong is a superior 
race among the races of the earth, and I want to see 
that pride maintained. The Romans thought that no 
people on the face of the earth were equal to the citizens 
of Rome, and it made them the greatest people in the 
world. . . , The spectacle of such a diplomatic dignitary 
in our country, would, I apprehend, be offensive to the 
people for many reasons, and wound their habitual sense 
of superiority to the African race." Mr. Gooch closed 
the debate. "Why shall we," he asked, "in our inter- 
course with the world, make discriminations in relation 
to color not recognized by the other leading powers of 



HAYTI AKD LIBERIA. 183 

the earth? Certainly the fact, that the great body of 
slaveholders in this country are to-day in rebellion 
against this Government, and seeking its overthrow, 
because they have hot been able to control all its 
departments to promote the extension and perpetuation 
of slavery, does not make it obligatory upon us to do 
so." The first question was on the adoption of Mr. 
Cox's amendment. He called for the yeas and nays ; 
and the yeas and nays w^ere ordered. The question 
was taken ; and it was decided in the negative, — yeas 
40, nays 82. Mr. Gooch demanded the previous ques- 
tion on the passage of the bill. The previous question 
was seconded, and the main question ordered. Mr. 
Cox demanded the yeas and nays on the passage of the 
bill ; and the yeas and nays were ordered. The ques- 
tion was taken ; and it was decided in the affirmative, 
— yeas S6, nays 37. So the bill was passed, and 
received the approval of the President on the fifth day 
of June, 1862. 



184 



CHAPTER VIII. 

EDUCATION OF COLORED YOUTH IN THE DISTRICT 

OF COLUMBIA. 

MR. GKIMES'S BILL. — MK. GRIMES'S REPORT. — MR. WILSON'S AMENDMENT. 

— REMARKS OF MR. WILSON. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. — BILL RE- 
PORTED IN THE HOUSE BY MR. ROLLINS. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. — 
MR. LOVE joy's BILL. — REPORTED BY MR. FESSENDEN. — PASSAGE OF 
THE BILL. — BILL REPORTED IN THE SENATE BY MR. GRIMES. — PAS- 
SAGE OP THE BILL. — MR. WILSON'S BILL. — REPORTED FROM THE 
DISTRICT COMMITTEE. — REMARKS BY MR. CARLILE. — MR. GRIMES. — 
MR. DAVIS. — MR. MORRILL. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL IN THE SENATE. 

— PASSAGE IN THE HOUSE. — MR. WILSON'S BILL. — MR. GRIMES'S 
BILL. — PASSAGE IN THE SENATE. — MR. PATTERSON'S SUBSTITUTE. — 
PASSAGE OF THE BILL. 

THE census of 1860 revealed the fact, that there 
were more than three thousand colored youth in 
the District of Columbia. These children were not 
permitted to enter the public schools, and no public 
provision whatever was made for their instruction. The 
property of colored parents was taxed for the support 
of schools from which their own children were excluded. 
The abolition of slavery, the repeal of the black code 
and ordinances, in the District, more distinctly revealed 
this neglect of colored cliildren , and this injustice towards 
colored parents. 

In the Senate, on the 29th of April, 1862, Mr. 
Grimes (Rep.) of Iowa introduced a bill providing 
for the education of colored children in the city of 
Washington. On the presentation of his bill, Mr. 
Grimes said, " In order that there may be no misappre- 



EDUCATION OF COLORED YOUTH, ETC. 185 

hension as to what this bill seeks, I desire to say now, 
before it is referred, that, according to the census of 
1860, there are three thousand one hundred and seventy- 
two colored children in this District. The amount of 
real estate then and now owned by colored persons 
within the District is in value $650,000. There is 
now levied a tax upon that property amounting to 
$36,000. The school-tax, as I understand, is ten per 
centum of that amount, or $3,600, which goes to the 
support of schools which are devoted exclusively to the 
education of white children. This bill simply provides 
that the tax which is levied on the property of colored 
persons shall be used exclusively in the education of 
colored children." 

The bill was referred to the Committee on the Dis- 
trict of Columbia ; and, on the 30th, Mr. Grimes 
reported it with amendments. The Senate, on the 8th 
of May, on the motion of Mr. Grimes, proceeded to 
its consideration, and the amendments of the committee 
were agreed to. The bill, as amended, made it the duty 
of the municipal authorities of Washington and George- 
town to set apart ten per cent of the amount received from 
taxes levied on the real and personal property owned by 
persons of color, to be appropriated for the purpose of 
initiating a system of primary schools for the education 
of colored children. The board of trustees of public 
schools were to have sole control of the fund arising 
from the tax, as well as from contributions by persons 
disposed to aid in the education of the colored race, or 
from any other source, and to provide suitable rooms 
and teachers for such a number of schools as in their 
opinion would best accommodate the colored children. 

16* 



186 EDUCATION OF COLORED YOUTH 

Mr. Wilson (Eep.) of Massachusetts moved to 
amend the bill by adding as an additional section, — 

" That all persons of color in the District of Columbia, or 
in the corporate limits of the cities of Washington and 
Georgetown, shall be subject and amenable to the same 
laws and ordinances to which free white persons are or may- 
be subject or amenable ; that they shall be tried for any 
offences against the laws in the same manner as free white 
persons are or may be tried for the same offences ; and that, 
upon being legally convicted of any crime or offence against 
any law or ordinance, such persons of color shall be liable to 
the same penalty or punishment, and no other, as would be im- 
posed or inflicted upon free white persons for the same crime 
or offence : and all acts, or parts of acts, inconsistent with the 
provisions of this act, are hereby repealed." 

In support of his amendment, Mr. Wilson said, "We 
have some laws that everybody admits are very oppres- 
sive upon the colored population of this District ; some 
of them old laws made by Maryland ; others, ordinances 
of the cities of Washington and Georgetown. As we 
are now dealing with their educational interests, I think 
we may as well at the same time relieve them from these 
oppressive laws, and put them, so far as crime is con- 
cerned, and so far as offences against the laws are 
concerned, upon the same footing, and have them tried 
in the same manner, and subject them to the same pun- 
ishments, as the rest of our people." The amendment 
was agreed to, the bill was rejiorted to the Senate as 
amended, the amendment was concurred in, and the bill 
ordered to be engrossed. Mr. Saulsbury (Dem.) of 
Delaware demanded the yeas and nays on its passage, 
— yeas 27, nays 6. There being no quorum, the Senate 
adjourned. 



IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 187 

On the 9th, the vote was taken, and resulted — yeas 
29, nays 7. So the bill was passed In the Senate, and 
its title so amended as to make it read, " A bill pro- 
viding for the education of colored children in the cities 
of Wasliington and Georgetown, in the District of Co- 
lumbia, and for other purposes." In the House, on 
the 15th, Mr. Rollins (Rep.) of New Hampshire, from 
the Committee on the District of Columbia, reported 
back the bill without amendment, and demanded the 
previous question on its passage. It was ordered ; the 
bill was passed, and approved by the President on 
the 21st of May, 1862. 

In the House of Representatives, on the 23d of June, 
1862, Mr. Lovejoy (Rep.) of Illinois introduced a bill 
relating to schools for the education of colored children 
in the cities of ^Washington and Georgetown, in the 
District of Columbia ; and it was read twice, and re- 
ferred to the District Committee. The bill provided 
that the duties imposed on the board of trustees of the 
public schools in the cities of Washington and George- 
town, by the act providing for the education of colored 
children in the cities of Washington and Georgetown, 
approved May 21, 1862, be transferred to Daniel 
Breed, Sayles J. Bowen, and Zenas C. Robbins, and 
their successors in office, who are created a board of 
trustees of the schools for colored children, and who 
shall possess all the powers and perform all the duties 
conferred upon and required of the trustees of public 
schools in the cities of Washington and Georgeto\vn by 
that act. On the 3d of July, Mr. Fessenden (Rep.) 
of Maine, from the Committee on the District to 
whom was referred Mr. Lovejoy's bill, reported it back 



188 EDUCATION OF COLORED YOUTH 

without amendment, and it passed the House. In 
the Senate, Mr. Grimes, on the 5th of July, reported 
back the bill from the District Committee ; and, on 
his motion, it was enacted on the 11th of July, 
1862. 

In the Senate, on the 17th of February, 1863, Mr. 
Wilson (Rep.) of Massachusetts introduced a bill to 
incorporate " the institution for the education of colored 
youth," to be located in the District of Columbia. The 
objects of the institution were to educate and improve 
the moral and intellectual condition of such colored 
youth of the nation as may be placed under its care and 
influence. The bill was read twice, and referred to the 
District Committee. Mr. Grimes, on the 24th, from 
the Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom 
the bill was referred, reported it without amendment. 
On the 27th, the Senate, on motion of Mr. Grimes, 
proceeded to its consideration. " I should like to know," 
said Mr. Carlile (Dem.) of Virginia, "if these negroes 
cannot be educated without an act of incorporation." 
He did not " see any very good reason why the Govern- 
ment of the United States should enter upon the scheme 
of educating negroes." He understood "the reason 
assigned for the government of a State undertaking the 
education of the citizens of the State is that the citizens 
in this country are the governors ; " but he presumed 
" we have not yet reached the point when it is proposed 
to elevate to the condition of voters the neg-roes of the 
land." Mr. Grimes in reply said, "It may be true, that, 
in that section of the country where the senator is most 
acquainted, the whole idea of education proceeds from 
the fact, that the person who is to be educated is merely 



m THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 189 

to be educated because he is to exercise the elective 
franchise ; but I thank God that I was raised in a sec- 
tion of the country where there are nobler and loftier 
sentiments entertained in regard to education. We 
entertain the opinion, that all human beings are account- 
able beings. We believe that every man should be 
taught, so that he may be able to read the law by which 
he is to be governed, and under which he may be pun- 
ished. We believe that every accountable being should 
be able to read the word of God, by which he should 
guide his steps in this life, and shall be judged in the 
life to come. We believe that education is necessary in 
order to elevate the human race. We believe that it is 
necessary in order to keep our jails and our penitentiaries 
and our alms-houses free from inmates. In my section 
of the country, we do not educate any race upon any 
such low and grovelling ideas as those that seem to be 
entertained by the senator from Virginia." Mr. Davis 
(0pp.) of Kentucky thought the subject might be 
dropped. "I recollect," he said, "a fact in relation to 
the Island of St. Lucia, one of the West-India islands. 
When it became one of the British possessions, a great 
many Irish who spoke the Gaelic language migrated 
from the Island of Erin to St. Lucia. In the course of 
a few years, they possessed themselves of African slaves, 
— slaves from the continent; and, in adhering to their 
Gaelic lanofuasre, the Africans whom thev introduced, 
and the young ones that were raised, of course learned 
to speak the Gaelic too. After a while, some of their 
kinsfolk, who had been left behind in the mother coun- 
try, visited the Island of St. Lucia, and they discovered 
aU the negroes there talking the real Gaelic, the genuine 



190 EDUCATION OF COLORED YOUTH 

Irish; and they wrote back to their countrymen, for God's 
sake no more of them to come to St. Lucia ; and, as they 
loved St. Patrick, not to come to St. Lucia, because all 
the Irish turned to be negroes there. I really think, 
sir, that, if the subject of negroes is handled much longer 
in the Senate, there is very great danger of some sena- 
tors meeting such a fate as vras feared by these visitors 
from Ireland would happen to their countrymen." Mr. 
Morrill (Kep.) of Maine thought the opposition to the 
bill, and the sentiments expressed, were extraordinary. 
" The senator from Virginia puts his opposition upon the 
ground of a protest against public education. Gracious 
God, sir, has it come to this, that in the American Con- 
gress, and at this late day, an honorable senator shall 
rise here, and enter his protest against a measure of 
public popular education? Coming from the region 
of country I do, I confess that it excites wonder and 
astonishment in my mind. Is there a civilized nation 
on the globe, that has not, within the last fifty years, 
turned its attention to the subject of the education of the 
people, and that has not embarked in it, and made it a 
matter of State concern, if you please, the highest State 
concern, not only as beneficial to the individuals, the 
social compact, but to the security of the State? I 
should like to know what sort of American statesman- 
ship that is which enables a senator to rise here in 
his place, and arraign a measure designed to educate 
the people : for that, allow me to say, was one of the 
positions taken by the senator from Virginia ; and he 
prided himself apparently on the fact, that, in the region 
of country in which he was raised, education was left to 
private enterprise. How well that great duty has been 



IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 191 

there performed, I care not to say : the history of the 
country shows. But, sir, I come from a region of 
country the people of which prize public education ; who 
hold public education as a great duty, the first great duty 
of the State, to be religiously performed ; and, if New 
England can boast of any thing, it is her system of 
education, her system of public instruction, which gives 
to every child, no matter whether he is high or low 
born, a fair chance in life, a fair chance to succeed in the 
world. That is her glory ; and to-day, sir, amid the 
menaces, impotent as they are, that fall about New 
England, if there be any thing which will enable her to 
put them at defiance, it will be her moral power on the 
continent by reason of her system of public education. 
. . . The legislation of my State has adopted a sys- 
tem of education which enjoins it upon the people 
of every town and city to educate every child, with- 
out regard to color or complexion. The negro, if 
you please, in that regard, stands on an equal footing 
with every other child in the State. The law knows 
no complexion in its duty of public education, and 
the system of public education throughout New Eng- 
land knows no distinction whatever." Mr. Davis's 
motion to postpone the bill was lost, and the bill ordered 
to be engrossed. Mr. Carlile demanded the yeas and 
nays on its passage, and they were ordered ; and, being 
taken, resulted — yeas 29, nays 9. In the House, on 
the 2d of March, the bill was taken from the Speaker's 
table. Mr. Wilson (Rep.) of Iowa called for the pre- 
vious question : it was passed, and approved by the 
President on the 3d of March, 1863. 

In the Senate, May 2, 1864, Mr. Wilson introduced 



192 EDUCATION OF COLOEED YOUTH 

a bill granting one million acres of public land to the 
cities of Washington and Georgetown and the county 
of Washington, the proceeds to be used for the support 
of the public schools in proportion to the number of 
children. The bill also authorized the school commis- 
sioners to assess a poll-tax of one dollar on men of color 
for the education of colored children. The bill was 
referred to. the Committee on Public Lands. 

The Senate, on the 18th of February, 1864, on mo- 
tion of Mr. Grimes, proceeded to the consideration of 
his bill to provide for the public instruction of youth in 
the primary schools throughout the county of Wash- 
ington, in the District of Columbia, without the limits 
of the cities of Washino^ton and Georo^etown. Mr. 
Grimes suggested that the Senate consider the amend- 
ment reported from the District Committee as a sub- 
stitute. This amendment established a public-school 
system in the county of Washington for the instruction 
of youth. The eighteenth section authorized the Levy 
Court at its discretion to levy a tax of one-eighth of one 
per cent on all taxable property owned by persons of 
color, for the purpose of initiating a system of educa- 
tion for colored children. The bill passed the Senate 
without a division. 

In the House, on the 8th of June, Mr. Patterson 
(Rep.) of New Hampshire reported back, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute, the Senate 
bill to provide for the public instruction of youth in the 
county of Washington. A professor in Dartmouth 
College, familiar with the public-school systems of the 
Northern States, Mr. Patterson was admirably fitted to 
devise an improved system of public instruction for the 



IN THE DISTRICT OF COLIBIBIA. 193 

national capital. The substitute reported by Mr. Pat- 
terson, with the unanimous approval of the District 
Committee, provided in the seventeenth and eighteenth 
sections, and in the proviso to the nineteenth section, 
for separate schools for colored children of the District. 
"To accomplish this," said IVIr. Patterson, "we have 
provided that such a proportion of the entire school fund 
shall be set apart for this purpose as the number of 
colored children between the ages of six and seventeen 
bear to the whole number of children in the District. 
. . . We may have differences of opinion in regard to 
the proper policy to be pursued in respect to slavery ; 
but we all concur in this, that we have been brought to 
a juncture in our national affairs in which four millions 
of a degraded race, lying far below the average civiliza- 
tion of the age, and depressed by an almost universal 
prejudice, are to be set free in our midst. The question 
now is. What is our first duty in regard to them? ... I 
think there can be no difference of opinion on this, that 
it is our duty to give to this people the means of educa- 
tion, that they may be prepared for all the privileges 
which we may desire to give them hereafter." Mr. 
Patterson's substitute was adopted, and the bill passed 
the House as amended. The Senate readily concurred 
in the House amendment ; and the bill received the 
approval of the President on the 25th of June, 1864. 

By this beneficent act of legislation, it is made the 
duty of the school commissioners to establish public 
schools for colored children, to provide school-houses, to 
employ school-teachers, and " to appropriate a propor- 
tion of the school fund, to be determined by the num- 
bers of white and colored children between the ages of 

17 



194 EDUCATION OF COLORED YOUTH, ETC. 

six and seventeen years." Nearly four thousand colored 
children in the national capital have by the enactment 
of this law, in the public schools, the same rights and 
privileges as white children. 



195 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE AERICAIJ SLAVE-TRADE. 

THE TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN FOR 
THE SUPPRESSION OF THE SLAVE-TRADE. — MR. SUMNER'S BILL. — 
REMARKS OF MR. SAULSBURY. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. — MR. FOS- 
TER'S BILL. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. 

THE American flag has been made to cover for 
many years the hori'id and loathsome traffic in 
human flesh. The African-slave traders have pursued 
their foul and infamous work of sorrow and death under 
the protection of the flag of this Christian nation. 
This prostitution of the flag brought reproach and dis- 
honor upon the Government and people of the United 
States. To suppress this traffic in men, to prevent this 
abuse of the flag of the country, a treaty was made 
with England for the more effectual suppression of the 
African slave-trade. 

On the 12th of June, 1862, Mr. Sumner (Rep.) of 
Massachusetts, from the Committee on Foreign Rela- 
tions, to whom was referred a message from the Presi- 
dent of the United States in relation to the treaty 
between the United States and Great Britain for the 
suppression of the slave-trade, reported a bill to carry 
the treaty into effect. On motion of Mr. Sumner, 
the Senate, on the 26th, proceeded to the consideration 
of the bill. To carry into effect the provisions of the 
treaty between the United States and her Britannic 



196 THE AFKICAN SLAVE-TRADE. 

Majesty for the suppression of the African slave-trade, 
it was provided that the President should appoint, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a judge 
and also an arbitrator on the part of the United States 
to reside at New York ; a judge and also an arbitrator 
to reside at Sierra Leone ; and a judge and also an 
arbitrator to reside at the Cape of Good Hope. Mr. 
Saulsbury (Dem.) of Delaware wished to record his 
vote against the passage of the bill. "I do not," he 
said, " object to the suppression of the African slave- 
trade ; but I do not believe that this Government has 
the constitutional right to establish any such court. I 
think the treaty ought not to have been adopted. There 
is no power under the Constitution for the establishment 
of such a court outside of the United States." Mr. 
Howard (Rep.) of Michigan demanded the yeas and 
nays on the passage of the bill, — yeas 34, nays 4. In 
the House, on the 7th of July, Mr. Gooch (Rep.) of 
Massachusetts reported back, from the Committee on 
Foreign Relations , the Senate bill to carry into effect the 
treaty between the United States and England for 
the suppression of the African slave-trade. "I desire 
only to state," remarked Mr. Gooch, "that the pro- 
visions of the treaty are necessary to carry the treaty 
recently made into effect." The bill was passed, and 
received the approval of the President on the 11th of 
July, 1862. 

In the Senate, on the 8th of July, Mr. Foster (Rep.) 
of Connecticut introduced a bill to amend an act 
entitled "An act to amend the act entitled ^An act in 
addition to the acts prohibiting the slave-trade : ' " it was 
read twice, and referred to the Judiciary Committee. 



THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE. 197 

On the 9th, Mr. Foster reported back the bill, without 
amendment. It was taken up for consideration on the 
12th ; and Mr. Fessenden (Rep.) of Maine stated that 
he understood a division was to be called upon it, and 
moved that it be laid on the table. On the 15th, the 
Senate, on motion of Mr. Foster, proceeded to the con- 
sideration of the bill. It provided that the President 
might enter into arrangement, by contract or otherwise, 
wdth one or more foreign governments having posses- 
sions in the West Indies or other tropical regions, or 
with their duly constituted agent or agents, to receive 
from the United States, for a term not exceeding five 
years, at such place or places as shall be agreed upon, 
all negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color, delivered 
from on board vessels seized in the prosecution of the 
slave-trade by commanders of United - States armed 
vessels, and to provide them w^ith suitable instruction, 
and wdth comfortable clothing and shelter, and to 
employ them, at wages under such regulations as shall 
be agreed upon, for a period not exceeding five years 
from the date of their being landed at the place or places 
agreed upon. Mr. King (Eep.) of New York regarded 
this as a sort of apprenticeship system to which he was 
opposed, and demanded the previous question on the 
passage of the bill, — yeas 30, nays 7. In the House, 
on the 16th, the bill was passed, and received the 
approval of the President on the 17th of July, 1862. 



17* 



198 



CHAPTER X. 

AX)DITIONAL ACT TO ABOLISH SLAVERY IN THE 
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

MR. WILSON'S BILL. — REPORTED BACK WITH AMENDMENTS BY MR. 
GRIMES. — MR. GRIMES'S SPEECH. — MR. WILSON'S SPEECH. — COMMIT- 
TEE'S AMENDMENTS. — MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — PASSAGE OF THE 
BILL. — BILL IN THE HOUSE. — REMARKS OF MR. WICKLIFFE. — MO- 
TION TO LAY ON THE TABLE BY MR. COX. — REMARKS BY MR. CRIS- 
FIELD. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. 

IN the Senate, on the 12th of June, 1862, Mr. Wil- 
son (Rep.) of Massachusetts introduced a bill sup- 
plementary to the act for the release of certain persons 
held to service or labor in the District of Columbia, 
approved April 16, 1862 ; which was read twice, and 
referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia. 
Mr. Grimes (Rep.) of Iowa, Chairman of the District 
Committee, reported, on the 24th, the biU back with 
amendments. On the 7th of July, the Senate, on 
motion of Mr. Grimes, proceeded to its consideration. 
Mr. Grimes briefly explained its purpose and scope. "It 
will be remembered," he said, " that when the President 
of the United States notified the Senate of his approval 
of the act of the 16th of April last, emancipating slaves 
in this District, he stated that he had some objections to 
it, on the ground that the rights oi femes covert^ absent 
persons, minors, &c., were not saved. The first sec- 
tion of this bill is designed to cover cases of that kind ; 



ADDITIONAL ACT TO ABOLISH SLAVERY. 199 

and it provides that where persons were out of the coun- 
try, officers of the army or navy, or idiots or minors, 
or persons who are laboring under any disability of that 
kind, they shall have an opportunity to come in and 
prove their claims to property of this description within a 
time limited. The second section of the bill, as the com- 
mittee propose, is intended to cover cases of this kind. 
It has been discovered that there are some persons who 
have been held as slaves, whose owners are in arms 
against the country. There is nobody here to represent 
those owners ; and it is impossible, therefore, for those 
colored persons to get any evidence of their manumis- 
sion or theu' emancipation : and it is provided, that if 
any person, having claim to the service or labor of any 
person or persons in the District of Columbia by rea- 
son of African descent, shall neglect or refuse to file 
with the clerk of the Circuit Court the statement or 
schedule required by the ninth section of the act of 
April 16, 1862, it shall be lawful for the person or per- 
sons whose services are claimed to file such statement 
in writing or schedule, setting forth the particular facts 
mentioned in the ninth section of that act, and the clerk 
is to record the same ; and the clerk is then to prepare, 
prescribe, and deliver the certificates, as described in the 
tenth section of that act, to such persons as shall file 
their statements. I understand that there are several 
cases — I am so informed by one of the commissioners 
— where this description of persons are claimed by per- 
sons now in rebellion and beyond our reach. The next 
section declares that all persons who are held to service 
under the laws of any State, and who, at any time since 
the 16th of April, have, by the consent of the persons 



200 ADDITIONAL ACT TO ABOLISH SLAVERY 

who have held them, been forced to labor in this Dis- 
trict, shall be free." 

The President stating the question to be on the 
amendment of the committee to strike out the second 
section of the original bill, Mr. Wilson said, "The com- 
mittee have inserted two very excellent sections ; but they 
propose to strike out the second and fourth sections of 
he orio:inal bill. The second section was intended to 
cover the cases of persons who were held to service or 
labor in this District, who resided here with their mas- 
ters, but who have been recently hired out in the neigh- 
boring States, especially the State of Maryland. There 
are cases of such persons whose names have not been 
returned by their masters, and who have no remedy 
unless we give it to them. I presented a petition, a 
short time ago, in relation to one case of this kind, — 
the petition of a person born in the District, held here 
to service, who had always lived here until recently, and 
was hired out over the line a few months ago. I think 
the commissioners ought to construe the law to cover 
those cases ; for, in my judgment, the law should be 
construed in favor of personal rights : but there is some 
doubt about it, and hence the necessity for legislation 
on the subject. I have talked to some of the commis- 
sioners in regard to it, and find that there is doubt on 
the question. I think that section of the bill ought to 
stand, notwithstanding the dissent of the report of- the 
committee." 

" I will state," replied Mr. Grimes, " the reason why 
the committee recommended the strikiriof-out of that 
section. As I understand it, the purport of that sec- 
tion was this : that if a person had been held to slavery 



IN THE DISTRICT OF COLOIBIA. 201 

in the District of Columbia prior to the emancipation 
act, and had been sent, by the man who claimed to be 
his master, out of the District prior to the passage of 
that act, then, under the law, he should become free. 
We did not believe we had that power. He was held 
as a slave under the laAV of the State of Maryland, 
to which he had been sent ; and we did not suppose we 
could legislate for the State of Maryland." The second 
section of the bill was stricken out by the Senate. 

The President stated the question to be on concurring 
in the new section proposed by the committee, giving to 
persons whose services are claimed the right to file the 
papers required by the act for the release of persons 
held to service in the District of Columbia, when per- 
sons claiminof their services ne^'lect or refuse to file such 
papers. The amendment was amended on the sugges- 
tion of Mr. Collamer (Rep.) of Vermont, and the 
amendment as amended was am-eed to. The amend- 
ment proposed by the committee, to strike out the fourth 
section of the original bill j^roviding for the appointment 
of a solicitor of the commission, was agreed to. 

Mr. Sumner (Rep.) of Massachusetts offered as an 
additional section, that, in all the judicial proceedings in 
the District of Columbia, there shall be no exclusion of 
any witness on account of color. Mr. Powell (Dem.) 
of Kentucky demanded the yeas and nays on that 
amendment, — yeas 25, nays 11. Mr. Powell de- 
manded the yeas and nays on the passage of the bill, — 
yeas 29, nays 6. 

In the House, the bill was taken from the Speaker's 
table on the 9th of July ; and Mr. Ashley (Rep.) of 
Ohio stated that the bill was supplementary to the act 



202 ADDITIONAL ACT TO ABOLISH SLAVERY. 

abolishing slavery in the District, approved the 16th of 
April. Mr. Calvert (0pp.) of Maryland desired "to 
strike out the fourth section. It was simply interfering 
with the riofhts of the slaveholders in the States." Mr. 
WicklifFe (0pp.) of Kentucky said, "As I understand 
the reading of the section, if a man in Montgomery 
County, or anywhere else in Maryland, sends his negro 
to market or into the city to do any business for him, 
he is set free." Mr. Cox (Dem.) of Ohio moved to 
lay the bill on the table, and Mr. Calvert demanded the 
yeas and nays : lost, — yeas 35, nays 67. Mr. Ash- 
ley moved the previous question. Mr. Crisfield (Dem.) 
of Maryland desired to offer an amendment to the fourth 
section. Mr. Ashley could not withdraw the demand 
for the previous question. " Then I hope," replied 
Mr. Crisfield, "there is patriotism enough in the House 
to vote down the demand." The House, by a large 
majority, seconded the previous question. Mr. Richard- 
son (Dem.) of Illinois moved an adjournment, — yeas 
28, nays 69. Mr. Pendleton (Dem.) of Ohio de- 
manded the yeas and nays on the passage of the bill, — 
yeas 69, nays 36. So the bill passed the House, and 
was approved by the President on the 12th of July, 
1862. 



203 



CHAPTER XI. 

COLORED SOLDIERS. 

MR. WILSON'S BILL. — MR. GRIMES'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. 
SAULSBURY. — MR. CARLILE. — MR. KING'S AMENDMENT. — MR. SHER- 
MAN'S SPEECH. — MR. FESSENDEN'S SPEECH. — MR. RICE'S SPEECH. — 
MR. WILSON'S SPEECH. — MR. DAVIS'S AMENDMENT. — MR. COLLAMER'S 
SPEECH. — MR. TEN EYCK'S SPEECH. — MR. KING'S SPEECH. — MR. 
HENDERSON'S AMENDMENT. — MR. SHERMAN'S AMENDMENT. — MR. 
BROWNING'S AMENDMENT. — MR. LANE'S SPEECH. — MR. HARLAN'S 
SPEECH. — MR. WILSON'S BILL. — REMARKS OF MR. SHERMAN. — MR. 
LANE. — SPEECH OF MR. HOWARD. — MR. SHERMAN'S AMENDMENT. — 
MR. BROWNING'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. HENDERSON. — MR. 
WRIGHT. — MR. DOOLITTLE. — MR. POWELL. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. — 
MR. STEVENS'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. CLAY. — MR. BOUT- 
WELL. — MR. DAVIS'S A3IENDMENT. — MR. MALLORY'S SPEECH. — MK. 
WEBSTER'S AMENDMENT. — MR. SCOFIELD'S SPEECH. — MR. WOOD'S 
SPEECH, — MR, WHALLEY'S AMENDMENT, — MR, STEVENS' S AMEND- 
MENT ADOPTED. — CONFERENCE COMMITTEE. — REPORT ADOPTED. 

IN the Senate, on the 8th of July, 1862, Mr. Wilson 
(Rep.) of Massachusetts reported, from the Com- 
mittee on Military Affairs, a bill to amend the act calling 
forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, sup- 
press insurrection, and repel invasion, approved Feb. 
^%, 1795. On the 9th, on motion of Mr. Wilson, the 
Senate proceeded to consider the bill as in Committee 
of the Whole. Mr. Grimes (Rep.) of Iowa moved to 
amend it by adding three sections, providing that there 
shall be no exemption from military duty on account 
of color ; that, when the militia shall be called into 
service, the President shall have full power and authority 
to oro^anize them accordino^ to their race or color. Mr. 



204 • COLORED SOLDIERS. 

Saulsbury (Dem.) of Delaware denounced the attempt 
" made on every occasion to change the character of the 
war, and to elevate the miserable nigger, not only to 
political rights, but to put him in your army, and to 
put him in your navy." Mr. Carlile (Dem.) of Virginia 
declared that "the negro constituted no part of the militia 
of his State. I do not," he asserted, " think it is an effort 
to elevate the negro to an equality with the white man ; 
but the effect of such legislation will be to degrade the 
white man to the level of the negro." Mr. King (Rep.) 
of New York moved to strike out the first two sections 
of Mr. Grimes's amendment, and insert these two sec- 
tions : — 

" That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to re- 
ceive into the service of the United States, for the purpose of 
constructing intrenchments, or performing camp service or any 
other labor, or any war service for which they may be found 
competent, persons of African descent ; and such persons shall 
be enrolled and organized under such regulations, not incon- 
sistent with the Constitution and laws, as the President may 
prescribe ; and they shall be fed, and paid such compensation 
for their services as they may agree to receive when enrolled. 

" That, when any man or boy of African descent shall render 
any such service as is provided for in the first section of this 
act, he, his mother, and his wife and children, shall for ever 
thereafter be free, any law, usage, or custom whatsoever, to the 
contrary^ notwithstanding." 

Mr. King hoped that Mr. Grimes would accept the 
amendment. "I accept it," replied Mr. Grimes, "if it 
is in my power." Mr. Saulsbury pronounced this 
amendment "a wholesale scheme of emancipation." 
Mr. Sherman (Rep.) of Ohio said, "The question arises, 



COLORED SOLDIEES. 205 

v/hether the people of the United States, struggUng for 
national existence, should not employ these blacks for 
the maintenance of the Government. The policy here- 
tofore pursued by the officers of the United States has 
been to repel this class of people from our lines, to 
refuse their services. They would have made the best 
spies ; and yet they have been driven from our lines." — 
"I tell the President," said Mr. Fessenden (Rep.) of 
Maine, " from my place here as a senator, and I tell the 
generals of our army, they must reverse their practices 
and their course of proceeding on this subject. ... I 
advise it here from my place, — treat your enemies as 
enemies, as the worst of enemies, and avail yourselves 
like men of every power which God has placed in your 
hands to accomplish your purpose within the rules of 
civilized warfare." Mr. Rice (war Dem.) of Minnesota 
declared that " not many days can pass before the people 
of the United States North must decide upon one of two 
questions : we have either to acknowledge the Southern 
Confederacy as a free and independent nation, and that 
speedily ; or we have as speedily to resolve to use all the 
means given us by the Almighty to prosecute this war to 
a successful termination. The necessity for action has 
arisen. To hesitate Is worse than criminal." Mr. Wilson 
said, "The senator from Delaware, as he Is accustomed to 
do, speaks boldly and decidedly against the proposition. 
He asks if American soldiers will fight if we organize 
colored men for military purposes. Did not American 
soldiers fight at Bunker Hill with negroes in the ranks, 
one of whom shot down Major Pitcairn as he mounted 
the works ? Did not American soldiers fii>ht at Red 
Banli with a black regiment from your own State) sir? 

18 



206 COLORED SOLDIERS. 

(Mr. Anthony in the chair.) Did they not fight on the 
battle-field of Ehode Island with that black regiment, 
one of the best and bravest that ever trod the soil of 
this continent ? Did not American soldiers fight at Fort 
Griswold with black men? Did they not fight with 
black men in almost every battle-field of the Revolution ? 
Did not the men of Kentucky and Tennessee, standing 
on the lines of New Orleans, under the eye of Andrew 
Jackson, fight with colored battalions whom he had 
summoned to the field, and whom he thanked publicly 
for their gallantry in hurling back a British foe ? It is 
all talk, and idle talk, to say that the volunteers who 
are fighting the battles of this country are governed by 
any such narrow prejudice or bigotry. These prejudices 
are the results of the teachings of demagogues and poli- 
ticians, who have for years undertaken to delude and 
deceive the American people, and to demean and degrade 
them." 

Mr. Grimes had expressed his views a few weeks 
before, and desired a vote separately on each of these 
sections. Mr. Davis declared that he was utterly op- 
posed, and should ever be opposed, to placing arms in 
the hands of negroes, and putting them into the army. 
Mr. Hice wished "to know if Gen. Washins^ton did not 
put arms into the hands of negroes, and if Gen. Jackson 
did not, and if the senator has ever condemned either 
of those patriots for doing so." — "I deny," replied Mr. 
Davis, "that, in the Revolutionary War, there ever was 
any considerable organization of negroes. I deny, that, 
in the war of 1812, there was ever any organization of 
negro slaves. ... In my own State, I have no doubt 
that there are from eighty to a hundred thousand slaves 



COLORED SOLDIERS. 207 

that belong to disloyal men. You propose to place arms 
in the hands of the men and boys, or such of them as 
are able to handle arms, and to manumit the whole 
mass, men, women, and children, and leave them amono- 
us. Do you expect us to give our sanction and our 
approval to these things? No, no ! We would regard 
their authors as our worst enemies ; and there is no foreio-n 
despotism that could come to our rescue, that we would 
not joyously embrace, before we would submit to any 
such condition of things as that. But, before we had 
invoked this foreign despotism, we would arm every 
man and boy that we have in the land, and we would 
meet you in a death-struggle, to overthrow together 
such an oppression and our oppressors." Mr. Rice 
remarked in reply to Mr. Davis, " The rebels hesitate 
at nothing. There are no means that God or the Devil 
has given them that they do not use. The honorable 
senator said that the negroes might be useful in loading 
and swabbing and firing cannon. If that be the case, 
may not some of them be useful in loading, swabbing, 
and firing the musket ? " 

The Senate, on the 10th of July, resumed the consid- 
eration of the bill. ^Ir. Collamer said, " I never could 
understand, and do not now understand, why the Gov- 
ernment of the United States has not the right to the 
use of every man in it, black or white, for its defence ; 
and every horse, every particle of property, every dollar 
in money, of every man in it. As to the using of colored 
men, that is entirely a question of expediency, whether 
you need them, whether you can use them to advantage ; 
and that depends on so many contingencies, that I have 
always supposed the President, the generals, the men 



208 COLOKED SOLDIERS. 

who are managing the war, actually engineeringjt along 
if you please, would lay their hands upon and use all 
means and appliances to that end which they found 
necessary. If gentlemen think it is any better to put 
it into a law that the President may do that, if that will 
help the matter, I have no sort of objection." Mr. Wil- 
son thought that "it was necessary." — "Then," said 
Mr. Collamer, "I have no objection. . . . The second 
section of the amendment provides, that when any man 
or boy of African descent, who, by the laws of any State, 
owes service or labor to any person, who, during the 
present Rebellion, has borne arms against the United 
States, or adhered to their enemies by giving them aid 
or comfort, shall render to the United States any such 
service as is provided in the preceding section, he, his 
mother, and his wife and children, shall for ever there- 
after be free, any law or usage to the contrary notwith- 
standing. I have a word to say about that. I am 
constrained to say, whether it is to the honor or dishonor 
of my country, that, in the land of slavery, no male 
slave has a child ; none is known as father to a child ; 
no slave has a wife, marriage being repudiated in the 
slave system. This is the condition of things ; and, 
wonderful as it mdy be, we are told that that is a Chris- 
tian institution ! " Mr. Ten Eyck (Rep.) of New Jersey 
desired to strike out of the first section the words, "any 
military or naval," before "service." — "We may as 
well meet this question directly," said Mr. King, " and 
see whether we are prepared to use for the defence of 
our country the powers which God has given to it, — the 
men who are willing to be used to preserve it." — " My 
proposition is," said Mr. Ten Eyck, " to strike out the 



COLORED SOLDIERS. 209 

words, ^ any military or naval,' before 'service.' " — " We 
have," said Mr. King, "in my judgment, nothing to 
fear from our enemies on account of the expression of 
our views on this point. ... I have done talking in such 
a manner as to avoid giving oifence to our enemies 
in this matter. I think it was the captain of the watch 
here at the Capitol who came and consulted about getting 
permission to omit, during the session of the Senate, to 
hoist the flag on the top of the Capitol ; and, when he 
was asked what he wanted to omit that for, he said he 
feared it might be supposed that he desired to save 
labor and trouble, but he really suggested it because 
it hurt these people about here to look at it, — to 
see the flag on the top of the Capitol. I had not 
done much ; but I wrote a letter very promptly to the 
Secretary of the Interior, stating the fact, and saying 
that I did not care whom he appointed, but I wanted 
that man removed. He was removed, and, within ten 
days, was with the enemy at Manassas." 

The question on Mr. Davis's amendment to strike out 
the words, " or any military or naval service for which 
they may be found competent," was taken by yeas and 
nay?, — yeas 11, nays 27. Mr. Henderson moved to 
amend the section by inserting the word "free," before 
"persons," in the sixth line, and also by adding after 
"descent," in the same line, the words, "and also such 
persons of African descent as may owe service or labor 
to persons engaged in the Rebellion." Mr. Henderson's 
amendment was lost, — yeas 13, nays 22. Mr. Sauls- 
bury moved the indefinite postponement of the bill, — 
veas 9, navs 27. Mr. Henderson moved to add at the 
end of the first section, "^^ Provided that all loyal persons 

18* 



210 COLORED SOLDIERS. 

entitled to the service or labor of persons employed under 
the provisions of this act shall be compensated for the 
loss of such service." Mr. Hale would like to amend 
that by inserting the words, "by the laws of the State 
in which they reside." Mr. Henderson accepted the 
amendment. Mr. Powell demanded the yeas and nays, 
— yeas 20, nays 17. The first section, as amended, was 
agreed to. The President stated the question to be on 
the second section of the amendment of the senator from 
Iowa, " That when any man or boy of African descent 
shall render any such service as is provided for in the 
first section of this act, he, his mother, and his wife 
and children, shall for ever thereafter be free, any law, 
usage, or custom whatsoever, to the contrary notwith- 
standing." Mr. Sherman moved to amend it by adding, 
"who, during the present Rebellion, has levied war or 
borne arms against the United States, or adhered to 
their enemies by giving them aid and comfort." Mr. 
Sherman said, " When we take the slave of a loyal man, 
and make him work for us, I do not for that reason 
wish to deprive the master entirely of what he regards 
as his property, or what is regarded by local law as his 
property." — " When we take a slave," replied Mr. 
King, " to serve the country in this emergency, my own 
opinion is, that he should be made free, whether he 
belongs to a rebel or not." The secretary read the 
amendment to the amendment, to insert after the word 
"descent," in the second line, the words, "who by the 
laws of any State shall owe service or labor to any 
person, who, during the present Rebellion, has levied 
war or borne arms against the United States, or adhered 
to their enemies by giving them aid and comfort." The 



COLORED SOLDIERS. 211 

question, being taken by yeas and nays, resulted — yeas, 
22, nays 16. So the amendment to the amendment 
was as^reed to. 

]\Ir. Browning (Rep.) of Illmois said, "I wish to 
move another amendment to that section in the seventh 
line, by striking out the words, "his mother, and his 
wife and children." Mr. Lane (Rep.) of Kansas 
asked Mr. Browning, "What would freedom be worth to 
you, if your mother, your wife, and your children, were 
slaves ? " Mr. Browning replied, that " it would detract 
very greatly from the value of life with me, if it did 
not totally destroy it, to have my mother, my wife and 
children, in a state of hopeless bondage. I am no more 
the friend or advocate of slavery than the senator from 
Kansas, — not a bit more." On the 11th of July, 
the yeas and nays were taken on Mr. Browning's 
amendment, — yeas 17, nays 21. Mr. Harlan of Iowa 
addressed the Senate in a very elaborate and exhaustive 
speech in favor of the bill. "If I read," he said, "the 
signs of the times correctly, this has become a necessity. 
We cannot, if we persist in our folly, thwart the ulti- 
mate purposes of the Almighty. By his providential 
interposition, he has thrown open the door for the liber- 
ation of a nation of bondmen ; he has removed the 
constitutional impediment ; he has caused their assist- 
ance to be necessary for the perpetuity of the Union and 
the integrity of the nation. If we accept of this high 
destiny, all the nations of earth combined against us 
would be as flax in the flames ; but if we are not equal to 
the demands of the age, and obstinately refuse to follow 
the plain intimations of Providence, this great work will 
be handed over to other nations, or will be wrought out 



212 COLOEED SOLDIERS. 

by the rebels themselves, and our nation will become 
permanently divided." Mr. Harlan remarked, that Mr. 
Davis had predicted, when the bill for the abolition of 
slavery was pending, that the slaughters of St. Domingo 
w^ould be re-enacted if the bill passed. ... If senators 
will open their eyes, and look at these people, they will 
discover that they are no longer savages, but, in a com- 
parative point of view, highly civilized. They provide 
for their own wants ; they provide their OAvn food and 
clothing and shelter, and for the education of their own 
children, for the support of their own churches and 
schools, and bury their own dead ; and, during the 
seven years of my service at the capital of the nation, I 
have never seen a negro beggar, — not one. I have 
seen white beggars ; I have seen white boys and girls 
begging for a penny of each passer-by at the crossings ; 
I have seen stalwart men and women, of almost every 
nationality, begging in your streets and thoroughfares : 
but never yet have I seen a negro beggar in the streets 
of the capital of the nation." Mr. Davis followed in 
opposition to the bill ; and, on motion of Mr. Wilson, 
it was further postponed. 

On the 12th of July, Mr. Wilson, from the Com- 
mittee on Military Affairs and the Militia, reported a 
new bill to amend the "Act calling forth the militia to 
execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, 
and repel invasions," approved Feb. 28, 1795, and the 
acts amendatory thereof, and for other purposes ; which 
w^as read twice by its title, and ordered to be printed. 
On the 14th of July, on motion of Mr. Wilson, the bill 
was taken up and considered as in Committee of the 
Whole. The bill proposed to authorize the President 



COLORED SOLDIERS. 213 

to receive into the service of the United States, for the 
purpose of constructing intrenchments, or performing 
camp service, or any other labor or any military or 
naval service for which they may be found competent, 
persons of African descent ; and such persons are to be 
enrolled and organized under _ sucU^ regulations, not 
inconsistent with the Constitution and laws, as the 
President may prescribe, and are to be fed and clothed 
and paid such compensation for their services as they 
may agree to recede when enrolled. When any man 
or boy of African accent shall render any such service, 
he, his mother, and nli wife and children, are for ever 
thereafter to be free, any law, usage, or custom to the 
contrary notwithstanding. All persons who have been 
or shall be hereafter enrolled in the service of the United 
States under the act are to receive the pay and rations 
now allowed by law to soldiers, according to their 
respective gTades ; except that persons of African de- 
scent who shall be employed are to receive ten dollars 
per month, and one ration. "I think, by an inadver- 
tence," said Mr. Sherman (" for the senator from Massa- 
chusetts would not have done it otherwise) , he has left 
out a very important clause in the thirteenth section, 
which was adopted by a deliberate vote of the Senate. 
I will therefore renew it. It is in section thirteen, line 
two, after the words 'African descent,' to insert the 
words, 'who by the laws of a State owes service or 
labor to any person, who, during the present Rebellion, 
has waged war against the United States, or has aided 
or assisted said Rebellion.'" Mr. Lane of Kansas said 
he must demand the yeas and nays on that amendment. 
Mr. Sherman wanted the Senate to understand, that by 



214 COLORED SOLDIERS. 

a deliberate vote, and hj a considerable majority, the 
Senate determined that it would not apply the emanci- 
pation clause of the bill to any but the slaves of rebels. 
" By the section as it now stands, if any slave is 
employed to wheel a barrow of earth in makmg an 
intrenchment, or cutting down a tree, if he was the 
slave of the most loyal man in this country, he would 
thereby be made free." — "I am perfectly willing," 
replied Mr. Lane of Kansas, "to provide in the bill for 
remunerating the loyal master ; but the idea in this 
amendment is to remand a man back to slavery, either 
to a loyal or a disloyal master, after he has fought in 
defence of his country ! " 

On the 15th, the Senate resumed the consideration of 
the bill ; the pending question being Mr. Sherman's 
amendment to restrict the emancipation clause to the 
slaves of rebels. "Slave-masters," said Mr. Pomeroy, 
" have no loyalty to brag of. I do not propose to give 
them a bond in advance, and pledge the Government, 
that, if we use one of their slaves, we shall pay for him." 
Mr. Howard opposed Mr. Sherman's amendment. "I 
confess," he said, "that I am entirely opposed to the 
incorporation of the amendment of the senator from 
Ohio, in whatever form it may assume, into the bill. I 
cannot bear the. idea ; and it seems to me, that, if I were 
a slaveholder, I could not bear the idea of employing or 
suffering my slaves to be employed in defending me and 
my rights as a loyal man, taking arms in their hands, 
and going with me into the face of the battle, and risk- 
ing their lives to defend my life and my family and my 
rights under my government, and afterwards reducing 
those poor creatures to slavery. I should regard it as 



COLORED SOLDIERS. 215 

a burning and eternal shame. I never could do it. 
I do not care how lowly, how humble, how degraded 
a negi'O may be, if he takes his musket, or any other 
implement of war, and risks his life to defend me, my 
countrymen, my family, my government, my property, 
my liberties, my rights, against any foe, foreign or 
domestic, it is my duty under God, it is my duty as a 
man, as a lover of justice, to see to it that he shall be 
free." — "I do not," said Mr. Harlan, "remerabj&r" a 
single example since civilization commenced, when slaves 
have been mustered Into the armed service of a country, 
and again attempted to be returned to slavery." The 
question being taken on Mr. Sherman's amendment, by 
yeas and nays, resulted — yeas 18, nays 17. Mr. 
Browning moved to strike out the words, "his mother, 
and his wife and children." Mr. Harris supported the 
amendment ; believing it an impracticable thing, that 
could not be carried into effect, to free the wives and 
children of slaves used in the military service. The 
question was taken by yeas and nays, on Mr. Browning's 
amendment, — yeas 17, nays 20: so the amendment 
was rejected. Mr. Browning moved to amend the 
thirteenth section by adding to it, "that the mother, 
wife, and children of such man or boy of African 
descent shall not be made free by the operation of tliis 
act, except where such mother, wife, or children owe 
service or labor to some person, who, during the present 
Rebellion, has adhered to their enemies by giving them 
aid and comfort." Mr. Henderson earnestly supported 
the amendment, as just to loyal slaveholders. The 
question, being taken by yeas and nays, resulted — 
yeas 21, nays 16. Mr. Wright desh-ed "to see every 



216 COLORED SOLDIERS. 

tiling on God's earth taken by our generals that will 
assist in the prosecution of the war. A general in the 
army, who will not employ every negro that comes 
within his lines to work, to labor, should be turned out 
instantly." — "The Eevolution," said Mr. Doolittle, 
"and the seven -years' war with Great Britain, was the 
first parturition of America. During that long period 
of throes and pains and agony and blood, she gave her 
first-born birth, — liberty, ay, liberty ; but it was liberty 
for the white man, and not liberty for the black. Now 
again, in God's own time, and in a way that man knows 
not of, America is in the agonies of her second child- 
birth, praying to be delivered. In some way no human 
being can foresee, this war, forced upon the country by 
the madness and fanaticism of the South, will, as all 
hearts believe, never end until slavery is put in the pro- 
cess of final extinction ; until liberty for the black man, 
the second oiFspring of America, shall be born." — ^'I 
am as confident," said Mr. Powell, "as that I live and 
speak to the Senate of the United States to-day, that the 
policy of arming slaves, which has been adopted in one 
bill that has passed both Houses of Congress, and is 
proposed in the bill now under consideration, is the 
most disastrous measure for the integrity of this Union 
that has been or can be before this Congress." The bill 
was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, and 
was read the third time. On its passage, Mr. Sauls- 
bury called for the yeas and nays, and they were 
ordered; and, being taken, resulted — yeas 28, nays 9 
— as follows : — 

Yeas. — Messrs. Anthony, Browning, Chandler, Clark, Cowan, 
Doolittle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Hale, Harlan, Harris, Howard, 



COLORED SOLDIERS. 217 

Howe, King, Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morrill, Pomeroy, 
Rice, Sherman, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Wade, Wilkinson, 
Wilson of Massachusetts, and Wright, — 28. 

Nays. — Messrs. Bayard, Carlile, Davis, Kennedy, Powell, Sauls- 
bm-y, Stark, Willey, and Wilson of Missouri, — 9. 

So the bill was passed by the Senate. 

In the House, on the 16th of July, the bill was taken 
up; and Mr. Stevens (Rep.) of Pennsylvania demanded 
the previous question on its passage, and it was ordered. 
Mr. Holman (Dem.) of Indiana moved to lay it on 
the table. Mr. Allen (Dem.) of Illinois demanded the 
yeas and nays, — yeas 30, nays 77. The bill was then 
passed, and received the approval of the President on 
the 17th of July, 1862. 

On the 10th of February, 1864, in the House of 
Representatives, Mr. Stevens (Rep.) of Pennsylvania 
moved to amend the Enrolment Act by striking out the 
twenty-seventh section, and inserting, in substance, "that 
all able-bodied male persons of African descent between 
the ages of twenty and forty-five, whether citizens or not, 
shall be enrolled and made a part of the national forces ; 
and, when enrolled and drafted into the service, his 
master shall be entitled to receive three hundred dollars, 
and the drafted man shall be free." Mr. Boyd (Union) 
of Missouri suggested that Mr. Stevens modify his 
amendment, so as to pay only loyal masters ; and it was 
so modified. Mr. Clay (Union) of Kentucky opposed 
the amendment. Mr. Boutwell (Rep.) of Massachusetts 
moved to strike out "three hundred dollars," and insert 
"twenty-five dollars." "I desire," said Mr. Boutwell, 
" to say, in reply to the gentleman from Kentucky, that 
we have reached that emergency when men in the Border 

19 



218 COLOKED SOLDIERS. • 

States should understand, at least so far as I am con- 
cerned, that slaves as inhabitants of the country are to 
be used as other men are used to put down this Rebel- 
lion. No constitution or law of any State shall stand 
between me and what I believe to be my duty to my 
country." "Mr. Morris (Rep.) of New York and Mr. 
Creswell (Union) of Maryland advocated Mr. Stevens's 
amendment. Mr. Smithers (Rep.) of Delaware said 
the people of that State had no scruples in relation to 
using colored soldiers. Mr. Davis (Rep.) of Mary- 
land moved to strike out the proposed compensation to 
the masters of drafted slaves. The slaves " owe duty to 
the Government; and, if they do, we owe the masters 
nothing for taking them." Mr. Mallory (Dem.) of 
Kentucky said that " property is held in slaves. I do 
not mean that the person of the slave is property, and 
can be used as property ; that he can be killed, and eaten 
like a hog ; but that men own property in the labor and 
service of slaves in this country. The amendment of 
the gentleman from Maryland ignores this right, violates 
it in a plain, distinct, and palpable manner, and is con- 
trary to the Constitution of the United States." 

On the 11th, the House resumed the consideration 
of the Enrolment Bill ; the pending question being 
IVIr. Davis's amendment to Mr. Stevens's amendment. 
Mr. Stevens accepted the amendment. Mr. Davis then 
moved to amend by adding, that " the Secretary of War 
shall appoint a commission in each of the slave States 
represented in Congress, charged to award a just com- 
pensation to each loyal owner of any slave who may 
volunteer into the service, payable out of the commuta- 
tion money." Mr. Anderson (Union) of Kentucky was 



COLORED SOLDIERS. 219 

" in favor of taking the slaves of rebels in Kentucky, 
and of rebel sympathizers." Mr. Davis's amendment to 
the amendment was agreed to. Mr. Webster (Union) 
of Maryland moved to so amend Mr. Stevens's amend- 
ment as "to put the drafted man on the same footing with 
the volunteer slave." — "We do not," said Mr. Kelley 
(Kep.) of Pennsylvania, "give the Northern father 
compensation for his minor son who is drafted ; we do 
not give the Northern wife compensation for the husband 
whose labor was her support, if he be drafted ; we do 
not give the Northern orphan child compensation for 
having withdrawn the father whose labor was its sup- 
port ; we do not give compensation to the poor wife 
and child of a poor man of Maryland or Kentucky when 
the draft designates her husband or its father : and I 
cannot see that the relation of this slave-owner to his 
slave is one whit more 'sacred than that of the father to 
his son, the wife to her husband, or the child to its 
parent." — "I deny," said Mr. Harris (Dem.) of Mary- 
land, "that you have a right to enlist or enroll a slave." 
Mr. Kasson (Rep.) of Iowa would vote to give com- 
pensation in the case of slaves volunteering : he was 
against giving compensation in case of drafted slaves. 
Mr. Baldwin (Rep.) of Massachusetts moved to amend 
the amendment by striking out the words, "owner of any 
slave," and inserting, "the person to whom the colored 
volunteer may owe service ; " and the amendment to the 
amendment was adopted. Mr. Broomall (Rep.) of Penn- 
sylvania moved that the section shall not apply to any 
district if the representative expressly ask that the slaves 
be exempt from draft, letting it fall the more heavily 
upon the white man. He was opposed to it ; but he 



220 COLOEEp SOLDIERS. 

wanted a test-vote on this proposition. "I have never 
found," he declared, "the most snaky constituent of 
mine, who, when he was drafted, refused to let the 
blackest neoro in the district o^o as a substitute for him." 
Mr. Broomall's amendment was rejected. Mr. Webster 
moved to amend, so that the bounty now paid to the 
drafted man shall be paid to the person to whom any 
drafted man may owe any service or labor, — ayes 67, 
nays 44. Mr. Clay was opposed to sending a recruiting 
officer into Kentucky : " It will create a civil war among 
us." Mr. Scofield (Rep.) of Pennsylvania said, "There 
were two conditions of slavery, — non-instruction to the 
slave ; non-discussion by the white man. These are 
acknowledged to be the two safeguards of slavery by the 
statutes of almost every slave State where ignorance is 
commanded to the slave, and silence to the white man. 
. . . Slavery is surrounded by a cordon of missionary 
schools for the black man. In those schools, the slaves 
of all ages are taught not only what can be learned from 
books and charts, but also that they are, and of right 
ought to be, free, — made so by the laws of God and the 
President's proclamation ; and that it is a duty they owe 
to God and the President to maintain that freedom. 
When God shall please again to bless the land with 
peace, shall the negro lay aside his military belt, and 
resume the master's collar ? If the country would allow 
it, the master would not. He would as soon introduce 
to his plantation a person charged with some fatal in- 
fection as his former slave, filled with antislavery ideas 
and military skill. He might court his industry, but 
not his demoralized will. But the other safeguard of 
slavery — the silence of the white man — is broken also. 



COLORED SOLDIERS. 221 

Discussion has opened in all the Border States, and can 
never ao;ain be hushed." 

Mr. Fernando Wood (Dem.) of New York desired 
"to call attention to the fact, that, while we are dis- 
cussing a measure clearly and palpably in violation 
of the Constitution, the Confederate House of Repre- 
sentatives is discussing measures of peace, re-union, and 
conciliation." Mr. Cox proposed to send Mr. Wood 
to Richmond to negotiate a peace based upon the old 
Union, Mr. Harding moved to amend the proposed 
amendment by adding, " that the provisions of this sec- 
tion in regard to slaves shall not apply to the State of 
Kentucky." Mr. Higby (Rep.) of California thought 
"the Government might go into every district, and take 
men to fill up the Union armies, no matter what the 
color of their skin." Mr. King (Dem.) of Missouri 
moved to amend, so that no slave could be recruited or 
drafted in any State which has passed an ordinance of 
emancipation. Mr. Davis, in reply to Mr. Harris, 
said, " The gentleman spoke of robbery. Sir, the ad- 
vocates of slavery should seek some other term of 
reproach. Its origin was in robbery ; and, if time and 
law have sanctioned it, they have not obliterated its his- 
toric orio;in." 

Mr. Whalley (Union) of West Virginia moved to 
amend by adding, that the troops of African descent 
shall be organized into companies and regiments of 
their own color, and shall be commanded by white 
officers. Mr. Boutwell moved to strike out the words, 
"shall be commanded by white officers." He said, "It 
is an imputation on the white people of the country to 
say, that, in a fair contest, they are not able to main- 

19* 



222 COLOEED SOLDIERS. 

tain, socially, Intellectually, and morally, the ascendency. 
... If, with the ascendency which twenty-five million 
white people have in a struggle with four million of an 
oppressed and degraded race, we are not able to maintain 
the ascendency, then, I say, surrender. I believe we 
are able to maintain that ascendency ; but whatever 
positions these people show themselves capable of hold- 
ng, with honor to themselves and advantage to the 
country, never shall my vote restrain them from obtain- 
inof." Mr. Boutwell withdrew his amendment, and 
Mr. Whalley's amendment was rejected. Mr. Rollins 
(Union) of Missouri moved to amend so that slaves 
who have enlisted shall be placed on the same footing 
as those that shall hereafter enlist, — ayes 52, nays 51. 
Mr. Harrino^ton moved to insert the word " white " 
before the word " volunteers ; " and it was rejected. 
Mr. Stevens's amendment as amended was adopted. 
By its provisions, colored men, whether free or slave, 
were to be enrolled and considered part of the national 
forces. The masters of slaves were to receive the 
hundred-dollar bounty to each drafted man on freeing 
their slaves. 

The Enrolment Bill was referred to a Conference 
Committee, consisting of Mr. Wilson of Massachusetts, 
Mr. Nesmith of Oregon, and Mr. Grimes of Iowa, on 
•the part of the Senate ; and Mr. Schenck of Ohio, Mr. 
Deming of Connecticut, and Mr. Kernan of New York, 
on the part of the House. In the Conference Commit- 
tee, Mr. Wilson stated that he never could assent to 
the amendment, unless the drafted slaves were made 
free on being mustered into the service of the United 
States. Mr. Grimes sustained that position ; and the 



COLORED SOLDIERS. 228 

House committee assented to it. The House amend- 
ment was then modified so as to read, " That all able- 
bodied male colored persons between the ages of twenty 
and forty-five years, whether citizens or not, resident in 
the United States, shall be enrolled accordinir to the 
provisions of this act, and of the act to which this is 
an amendment, and form part of the national forces ; 
and, when a slave of a loyal master shall be drafted and 
mustered into the service of the United States, his 
master shall have a certificate thereof; and thereupon 
such slave shall be free ; and the bounty of a hundred 
dollars, now payable by law for each drafted man, shall 
be paid to the person to whom such drafted person was 
owing service or labor at the time of his muster into 
the service of the United States. The Secretary of 
War shall appoint a commission in each of the slave 
States represented in Congress, charged to award, to 
each loyal person to whom a colored volunteer may owe 
service, a just compensation, not exceeding three hun- 
dred dollars, for each such colored volunteer, payable 
out of the fund derived from commutation ; and every 
such colored volunteer, on being mustered into the ser- 
vice, shall be free." 

The report of the Conference Committee was agreed 
to ; and it was enacted that every slave, whether a 
drafted man or a volunteer, sh^ll be free on being mus- 
tered into the military service of the United States, 
not by the act of the master, but by the authority of 
the Federal Government. 



224 



CHAPTER XII. 

AID TO THE STATES TO EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES. 
ME. Wilson's JOINT KESOLUTiON. — house committee on emancipation. 

— ME. white's bill,. — ME. WILSON'S RESOLUTION. — ME. HENDERSON'S 
BILL. — MR. NOELL'S BILL. — MR. WHITE'S REPORT. — REMARKS OF MR. 
CLEMENTS. — MR. WICKLIFFE. — MR. NOELL. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. — 
HOUSE BILL REPORTED BY MR. TRUMBULL. — REMARKS OF ME. HENDER- 
SON. — MR. WILSON'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. FESSENDEN. — 
MR. TRUMBULL. — MR. FOSTER. — MR. WILSON. — MR. SHERMAN. — 'MR. 
COWAN. — MR. BAYARD. — MR. CLARK. — MR. LANE OF KANSAS. — MR. 
MORRILL. — MR. WILSON'S AMENDMENT. — MR. GRIMES' S SPEECH. — 
MR. KENNEDY'S SPEECH. — MR. HARRIS'S REPORT. — MR. WILSON OF 
MISSOURI. — MR. wall's SPEECH. — MR. RICHARDSON'S AMENDMENT. — 
MR. COLLAMER'S AMENDMENT. — MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — RE- 
MARKS OP MR. POWELL. — MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — MR. SITMNER'S 
SPEECH. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL AS AMENDED. — ME. WHITE'S REPORT 
IN THE HOUSE, — BILL REFERRED TO COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE. • ' 

IN the Senate, on the 7th of March, 1862, Mr. Wilson 
(Rep.) of Massachusetts asked leave to introduce 
a joint resolution to grant aid to the States of Maryland 
and Delaware to emancipate certain persons held to 
service or labor. It provided, that in case the States 
of Maryland and Delaware, within two years, shall enact 
that all persons held to gervice within those States shall 
be discharged from all claim to such service, and that 
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall thereafter 
exist in those States, the President may issue and de- 
liver to those States the bonds of the United States, 
payable in twenty -five years, to an amount equal to 
two hundred and fifty dollars for each person so dis- 



AID TO THE STATES TO EM^\Jy"CIPATE . 225 

charged and freed from service or labor. Mr. Saulsbury 
objected, and the resolution was not acted upon. 

On the 10th, the Vice-President stated, that, " on Fri- 
day, the senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Wilson) sent 
to the chair a joint resolution, and it was objected to by 
the senator from Delaware (Mr. Saulsbury). It being 
a joint resolution, the objection of the senator from 
Delaware precluded its reception. It is now in order 
for the senator to renew it, if he chooses so to do." Mr. 
Wilson asked leave to introduce his joint resolution to 
grant aid to the States of Maryland and Delaware to 
emancipate their slaves. "I intend," said Mr. Sauls- 
bury, "to object to the proposition in every stage, and 
fight it at every stage : I shall make all objections at all 
stashes that I have a ris^ht to make." Mr. Wilson said 
he did not understand that it required unanimous con- 
sent, as he had given notice more than a week ago. 
The Vice-President stated that " the senator from Mas- 
sachusetts did on Friday send to the chair the joint 
resolution, and the title was read. The chair rules that 
that was notice ; and therefore the senator is entitled to 
ask leave to introduce his resolution to-day, under the 
notice already given." Leave was granted to Mr. Wil- 
son to introduce his joint resolution ; and it was read, 
and passed to a second reading. 

In the House, on the 7th of April, 1862, iSIr. White 
(Rep.) of Indiana introduced a resolution for the ap- 
pointment of a select committee of nine members — the 
chairman and a majority of whom shall be members 
from the States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, and Missouri — to inquire and report 
whether any plan can be prepared and recommended for 



226 AID TO THE STATES 

the gradual emancipation of all the African slaves and 
the extinction of slavery in those States by the people 
or local authorities. Mr. Roscoe Conkling (Rep.) of 
New York suggested the modification of the resolution, 
so as not to restrict the chair in the appointment of the 
committee; and Mr. White so modified his resolution. 
Mr. Mallory (Dem.) of Kentucky denounced the reso- 
lution as " an unconstitutional absurdity," and moved 
that it be laid on the table. Mr. Cox (Dem.) of Ohio 
demanded the yeas and nays on Mr. Mallory's motion, 
and they were taken, — yeas 51, nays 68. Mr. Yal- 
landigham called for the yeas and nays on the passage 
of the resolution, — yeas 67, nays 52 : so the resolu- 
tion was passed. On the 14th of April, the Speaker 
announced as the select committee on the subject of 
gradual emancipation in the slaveholding States, — 
Messrs. Albert S. White of Indiana, Francis P. Blair 
of Missouri, George P. Fisher of Delaware, William E. 
Lehman of Pennsylvania, C. L. L. Leary of Maryland, 
K. V. Whaley of Virginia, James F. Wilson of Iowa, 
Samuel L. Casey of Kentucky, and Andrew J. Clements 
of Tennessee. 

On the 16th of July, Mr. White, from the Select 
Committee on Emancipation, reported a bill granting 
the aid of the United States to certain States, upon the 
adoption by them of a system of emancipation, and to 
provide for the colonization of free negroes, accompa- 
nied by a report. The bill provided, that whenever 
the President shall be satisfied that any one of the 
States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, 
Tennessee, or Missouri, shall have emancipated the 
slaves therein, it shall be the duty of the President 



TO E3IANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES. 227 

to deliver to such State an amount of bonds of the 
United States, payable at thhty years, equal to the 
aggregate value of all slaves within such State at 
the rate of three hundred dollars for each slave, — 
the whole amount for any one State to be deliv- 
ered at once if the emancipation shall be immediate, 
or in ratable instalments if it shall be gradual ; that 
no State shall make any compensation to the owner 
of any slave who shall be proved to have willingly 
engaged in or in any manner aided the present Rebel- 
lion. Mr. T\Tiite, by unanimous consent, explained the 
action of the committee. "I will only add," he said, 
" that this measure has passed the committee with great 
unanimity ; the slight dissent of any member being more 
to detail than to principle. It is addressed, not to the 
politician of an hour, but to historic men, conscious of 
the peril of 'their country, who know that great sacrifices 
must be made to save it, and look upon this as the most 
hopeful, as it will be the noblest, in its results." The 
bill was ordered to be printed, and referred to the Com- 
mittee of the Whole on the State of the Union. 

In the Senate, on the 8th of December, 1862, Mr. 
Wilson of Massachusetts introduced a resolution, in- 
structing the Committee on Military Affairs to consider 
the expediency of providing by law for more effectually 
suppressing the Rebellion and securing domestic tran- 
quillity in the State of Missouri. On the 19th, jNIr. 
Henderson (Union) of Missouri introduced a bill grant- 
ing aid to that State to emancipate the slaves therein ; 
which was referred to the Judiciary Committee. 

In the House, on the 15th, Mr. Noell (Union) of 
IMissom'i introduced a biU to secure the abolishment 



228 AID TO THE STATES 

of slavery in the State of Missouri, and to provide 
compensation to loyal persons therein who own slaves ; 
which was referred to the Select Committee on Eman- 
cipation. On the 2 2d, Mr. White, chairman of the 
committee, asked the consent of the House to report 
Mr. Noell's bill relative to the abolishment of slavery in 
Missouri, with a view to having it printed and recom- 
mitted. Mr. Yallandigham (Dem.) of Ohio objecting, 
Mr. White moved the suspension of the rules, — yeas 
77, nays 36. Mr. Noell, on the 6th of January, 1863, 
reported back from the select committee, without amend- 
ment, his bill giving aid to Missouri, for the purpose of 
securing the abolishment of slavery therein. Mr. Yal- 
landigham raised a point of order on the reception of the 
bill, which the Speaker overruled. The bill provided 
that the Government of the United States wnll, upon the 
passage by the State of Missouri of a good and valid 
act of emancipation of all the slaves therein, and to be 
irrepealable unless by the consent of the United States, 
apply the sum of ten million dollars in United-States 
bonds, redeemable in thirty years from their date. 

Mr. Clements (Union) of Tennessee did Intend to 
make a minority report, but was not aware the bill was 
to be reported : hence he desired to make an explana- 
tion. He was in favor of a general act to aid emanci- 
pation in the Border slave States ; but he thought the 
till alone, by itself, "to be of a sectional character," 
land "for that reason I oppose it." — "I have seen it 
rtated," said Mr. Wickliffe (0pp.) of Kentucky, "in 
the public prints, that, before the issuing of the Presi- 
dent's proclamation, he received information from in- 
telligent, unconditional Union men of Kentucky, which 



TO EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES. 229 

satisfied him that there was a great change in public 
sentiment among the people of Kentucky, and especially 
in the Union party, in favor of these miserable abolition 
schemes. I feel it my duty and my privilege to state 
on this floor, in the face of Heaven, in the presence of 
-the Congress of the United States, and in the hearing 
of the nation, that there is not one in every three hun- 
dred men in Kentucky who is in favor of such a meas- 
ure, or of the proclamation." The result of a measure 
for the emancipation of slaves in the Border States, by 
the aid of the national treasury, " would, in my judg- 
ment," said Mr. Clements, "deserve the thanks of all 
mankind ; as it would, I believe, relieve our country, 
in time, of one of the greatest evils that disturb our 
national quietude." Mr. Noell advocated his bill as a 
just, wise, and beneficent measure. " I am aware," he 
said, " that some of the public men in my own State 
believe that that sum is not large enough. I differ 
from them in opinion on that point. ... I believe that 
ten million dollars will be amply sufi[icient to pay for 
every slave of loyal owners at the rate of three hun- 
dred dollars each." Mr. Noell demanded the previous 
question. Mr. Price (Dem.) of Missouri asked Mr. 
Noell to withdraw it, to allow him to oflfer an amend- 
ment. Mr. Noell declared, if the amendment was to 
increase the amount named in the bill, he could not 
admit it. Mr. Price avoAved that it did increase the 
amount. Mr. Holman (Dem.) of Indiana moved to 
lay the bill on the table, and demanded the yeas and 
nays. They were ordered, — yeas 42, nays 73. The 
question being on the passage of the bill, it was decided 
in the aflSrmative, — yeas 73, nays 46. 

20 



230 AID TO THE STATES 

In the Senate, on the 14th of January, Mr. Trum- 
bull reported back from the Judiciary Committee Mr. 
Henderson's bill, with a recommendation that it be 
indefinitely postponed ; and the Senate concurred in the 
recommendation of the committee. Mr. Trumbull re- 
ported back from the committee Mr. Noell's House bill, 
with an amendment. On the 16th, on motion of Mr. 
Henderson, the Senate proceeded to the consideration 
of the House bill giving aid to Missouri for the abolish- 
ment of slavery ; the question pending being upon the 
amendment reported by the Committee on the Judiciary 
to strike out all after the enacting clause of the bill, and 
insert, "That whenever satisfactory evidence shall be 
presented to the President of the United States that the 
State of Missouri has adopted a law, ordinance, or other 
provision, for the gradual or immediate emancipation of 
all the slaves therein, and the exclusion of slavery for 
ever thereafter from said State, it shall be his duty to 
prepare, and deliver to the Governor of said State, as 
hereinafter provided, to be used by said State to com- 
pensate for the inconveniences produced by such change 
of system, bonds of the United States to the amount of 
twenty million dollars, the same to bear interest at 
the rate of five per cent per annum, and payable thirty 
years after the date thereof." Mr. Henderson said this 
bill was substantially the one he introduced. " The 
decree had gone forth, that slavery must be destroyed. 
It is needless to argue that Missouri is beyond the limits 
of this decree. It is not beyond the influence of your 
past legislation, nor is it beyond the influence of events 
far more powerful than acts of legislation. ... It is the 
best possible economy for the Government. If, in any 



TO EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES. 231 

manner, Missouri is held, responsible for this state of 
things, she now presents her regrets. If it be charged 
that her admission into the Union gave origin to this 
unfortunate feud, she may at least claim the honor of 
^fidelity to her pledge in tlie darkest hour of the nation's 
existence. If it be said that slavery is the cause of this 
Rebellion, she answers by placing slaveiy upon the 
altar of the country." On the 30th of January, the 
bill, on motion , of Mr. Trumbull, was considered. 
"To carry out the pledge," said Mr. Sherman (Rep.) 
of Ohio, "we made one year ago, I am willing to vote 
ten million dollars in bonds of the United States to 
the State of Missouri. I will not vote for any more." 
— "We cannot," replied Mr. Henderson, "emancipate 
in the State of Missouri, under our Constitution, with- 
out paying the owners for their property. If we 
undertake to liberate at all, we are bound to pay." 
IVIr. Wilson (Dem.) of Missouri gave notice that he 
should move to increase the amount. "I am ready," 
said i\Ir. Wilson of Massachusetts, "to give my vote to 
tax the toiling men of my State — to tax the farmers, the 
mechanics, the merchants, the fishermen on the coasts 
of New England — to blot slavery out of the State. 
Yes, sir : I am ready to tax my own barren New Eng- 
land so as to more effectually crush out this Rebellion, 
give domestic tranquillity, increase of population and of 
wealth, to that great Empire State of the West. I shall 
vote the money of Massachusetts with all my heart for 
emancipation in Missouri ; but, sir, it must be emanci- 
pation now or within a few years. I care far less for the 
money than for the time. I am for making it a free 
State with free influences in my day and generation." 



232 AID TO THE STATES 

Mr. Wilson moved to amend the amendment proposed 
by the committee by inserting in lieu of it, "that when- 
ever satisfactory evidence shall be presented to the Pre- 
sident of the United States that either of the States of 
Missouri, Maryland, Delaware, or West Virginia, has 
adopted a law, ordinance, or other provision, for the 
emancipation of all the slaves therein, and for the exclu- 
sion of slavery for ever thereafter from such State, it 
shall be his duty to prepare, and deliver to the Gover- 
nor of such State as shall so provide, — to the Governor 
of Missouri eighteen million dollars, to the Governor of 
Maryland eighteen million dollars, to the Governor 
of Delaware three hundred thousand dollars, and to 
the Governor of West Virginia one million five hundred 
thousand dollars, — bonds of the United States, bearing 
interest at the rate of five per cent per annum , and pay- 
able thirty years after the date thereof." Mr. Fessenden 
(Rep.) of Maine said, "I confess that I am somewhat 
surprised at the change that has been made by the Com- 
mittee on the Judiciary in the bill passed by the House 
of Representatives. I rose, sir, to suggest that the bill 
before us is better than the proposed substitute, because 
it is satisfactory to the House of Representatives, satis- 
factory to the representative from the State of Missouri 
who introduced and advocated it ; is less in amount, 
— proposing to appropriate only half as much, and 
yet, in my judgment, a sufficient amount." 

Mr. Henderson made an earnest and eloquent appeal 
for prompt action. " Now is the moment," he asserted ; 
" now is the accepted time. If ever you intend to do 
any thing to carry out your pledges that you are opposed 
to the institution of slavery, now is that time." Mr. 



TO EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES. 233 

Trumbull explained the bill, and defended tlie action of 
the committee. "This bill," he said, "proposes that 
slavery shall cease once and for ever after thirteen years. 
That is the object of it. The object of it is to insure 
freedom, and not perpetuate slavery. I would be glad 
if the shackles could fall from every slave, not only in 
Missouri, but throughout the United States and the 
world, to-day ; but, sir, I cannot accomplish it." Mr. 
Foster (Rep.) of Connecticut made an able and effec- 
tive speech in favor of the substitute of the committee. 
He said, " In my opinion, Mr. President, no more 
grave question can be raised in this body. I think the 
decision of that question affects directly, more directly 
than any other question before us, the existence and per- 
petuity of the Government of the United States ; I will 
add, than any other question which in the ordinary course 
of legislation can be brought before us. I will not say 
that the existence and perpetuity of the Union depend 
upon the manner in which that question may be decided ; 
but I will say,* that if it be decided to make this State a 
free State, and we actually make it a free State, we do 
more to perpetuate the existence of the Republic than 
we can do in any other one way." Mr. Wilson of 
Massachusetts, in response to Mr. Henderson, said, "I 
assure the senator from Missouri, to whose earnest tones 
I have listened to-day with unmixed pleasure, whose 
devotion to the country we all so fully applaud, that I 
am ready to vote any reasonable sum from the treasury 
of the nation to make IMissouri free, — free now, when 
freedom will bring to her law, order, and tranquilUty. 
I admit that it is important to take the first step ; and 
if this were a proposition to aid a State situated like 

20* 



234 AID TO THE STATES 

Kentucky or Tennessee, then I should regard the first 
step as every thing gained : l)ut for a great State like 
Missouri, with so few slaves, a State that has such 
mighty interests to become free at once, the proposition 
is one that we ought not to entertain ; and I hope it will 
be voted down by the Senate of the United States. Let 
us stamp upon her now war-desolated fields the words, 
* Immediate emancipation,' and these blighted fields will 
bloom again, and law and order and peace will again 
bless the dwellings of her people." — "I want to say," 
remarked Mr. Pomeroy (Eep.) of Kansas, "that I 
think MIssoiu'i is destined to become a free State at 
any rate. You cannot keep slavery in Missouri thirteen 
years without a standing army." 

On the 30th of January, the Senate, as in Committee 
of the Whole, resumed the consideration of the bill. 
"I believe," said Mr. Sherman, "that the condition of 
slavery as a fixed and permanent relation in Missouri 
tends to keep up civil war in the State ; and that, the 
very moment she enters upon the path of "gradual eman- 
cipation, all her sympathies and all her interests will be 
opposed to the present Rebellion, and in favor of the 
preservation of the Union. It is to accomplish this 
purpose, to create a spirit in the State of Missouri in 
favor of the perpetuity of the Union, that I am willing 
to vote the money of the people of Ohio to aid in this 
object. That can be accomplished better by gradual 
emancipation than by immediate emancipation."-— "I 
should like to ask the senator from Ohio," said Mr. 
Cowan (Rep.) of Pennsylvania, "if a scheme of grad- 
ual emancipation be adopted, where would be the neces- 
sity for an appropriation at all ? I understand that the 



TO ESIANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES. 235 

usuai mode by which that is effected is by declarino* 
the children, born after a certain time fixed, free." — 
"The right to the increase of slaves is now," replied 
Mr. Sherman, " under the local law, a property right, 
and that is estimated at a certain proportion of the 
value of the slaves. I should be willins; to contribute 
from the treasury of the United States to the State of 
Missouri the value of that property right, according to 
their local law." — "The right," said Mr. Cowan, "re- 
mains in the State perfect over the condition of the 
cliildren yet unborn." Mr. Wilson of Massachusetts, 
in reply to Mr. Sherman, said, " The senator from 
Ohio speaks with much feeling of the extreme views 
of some of us who desire, in contributing of the public 
money to make Missouri a free State, to give the 
priceless boon of personal freedom to her hundred 
thousand bondmen. The senator earnestly deprecates 
such radicalism as cares for the rights and interests of 
the slave. He announces that he is willing to tax the 
peo2)le of America to pay for children not yet born ; 
no, not yet begotten. I am not. The senator talks of 
our extreme views, of our radicalism ; while he accepts 
the abhorrent dogma, that slave-masters have a right to 
the unborn, unbegotten issue of their slaves, — a right he 
is willing to tax the people of Ohio to pay. I, sir, give 
no such vote. I will never consent to tax the people of 
Massachusetts to pay for unborn children twenty-two 
years hence." Mr. Henderson said, that, if a bill offer- 
ing ten million dollars and immediate emancipation were 
passed, " I for one, though I as earnestly desire emanci- 
pation as any man in Missouri, will ask the Legislature 
of that State not to accept it. That is plain and honest. 



236 AID TO THE STATES 

In that event, I shall ask the Legislature of the State 
of Missouri, however, to adopt a gradual system of 
emancipation upon their own hook." — "I would not," 
said Mr. Bayard (Dem.) of Delaware, "throw a straw 
in the road of the people of Missouri, if it is the will of 
the people of that State to abolish slavery within its 
limits, either now or at a future day; but I am unable 
to find in the Constitution of the United States any 
authority for Congress interfering with that institution, 
or making an appropriation to aid any State for the pur- 
pose of emancipation." 

Mr. Henderson said, "I now move in line twenty- 
one to strike out 'seventy-six,' and insert 'eighty-five,' 
so as to read, ' some day not later than the fourth 
day of July, 1885.'" — "That will allow," remarked 
Mr. Howard (Eep.) of Michigan, "to the State of 
Missouri the period of . twenty-two years within which 
to bring about emancipation. It seems to me that 
that is an unnecessarily long period. 1876 will be a 
great epoch in the history of this nation, as I trust, 
if the people are true to themselves, true to their 
own interests, true to that tutelary Constitution under 
which we have lived and prospered for eighty long years 
past. I shall expect, if I shall have the good fortune to 
survive until that day, to see the Constitution in its 
vigor and purity restored, and the Union restored, and 
to see not one foot of slave soil within the territorial 
limits of the United States. I hope, sir, to live to see 
that day. I expect to live to see that day ; and I want, 
when that great day shall arrive, to have the pleasure 
of joining in its festivities, and listening to the roar of 
its cannon, and to the joyous shouts of the people of the 



TO EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES. 237 

whole United States, that not only Missouri, but every 
other slavehokling State, is that day, at least, free, 
redeemed, emancipated from the pestilence." — "I am 
opposed," said Mr. Clark (Rep.) of New Hampshire, 
"to the amendment of the senator from ^lissouri. I 
am, with the senator from Michigan, willing to keep in 
good faith the resolution adopted by the Senate and 
House of Representatives at the last session. I am 
willing to aid any State in the gradual emancipation 
or in the immediate emancipation of its slaves ; but 
I am not willing that we should bear, as the senator 
from Missouri intimates we should, the whole of this 
burden." Mr. Henderson said, " I hope that the 
amendment I propose will be adopted. There are 
some senators here, like the senator from Ohio (Mr. 
Sherman) , who insist that emancipation must be grad- 
ual in my State. He cannot vote for any proposition 
of emancipation unless it is gradual. He does not want 
any immediate emancipation. The senator from Massa- 
chusetts (Mr. Wilson) , with the very same integrity of 
purpose, with the same desire to accomplish the purpose, 
says he must have it immediate ; and so says the senator 
from New Hampshire. If the bill is to fall between the 
contrariety of opinion that I find here, let it fall at 
once." Mr. Clark replied, that he was willing to give 
more to have it immediate, but was willing to give ten 
millions for gradual emancipation. He would propose 
an amendment odvinor "fifteen million dollars for immC" 
diate emancipation, or ten million dollars for emanci- 
pation on the 4th of July, 1876." — "I should," said 
Mr. Lane (Rep.) of Kansas, "like to ask the senator 
from New Hampshire, if in time of peace the question 



238 AID TO THE STATES 

was asked him, ^How much money will the people of 
New Hampshire give to extend the area of freedom over 
sixty-five thousand square miles of this country ? ' what 
his answer would be. I think I know the people of 
New Hampshire well enough to know that the answer 
would be, "^It is not to be estimated by dollars and 
cents.'" — "In requiring," said Mr. Wilson, "that a 
practical measure that shall secure the object intended 
shall be adopted, I have no fear of being accused of 
illiberality or of want of fidelity to the cause of the 
slave. I have a record, sir, of twenty -seven years; 
and no vote of mine during those years, for men or 
for measures or for principles, has been in support of 
slavery." Mr. Foster would stand by the amendment 
of the committee. " The only difference of opinion is 
that it appropriates more money than may be necessary : 
but the mistake of a few millions too much is not fatal ; 
the mistake of a few millions below the point will be 
%tal." Mr. Morrill (Kep.) of Maine said, "If Mis- 
souri, that great State lying in the centre of the conti- 
nent, would speak the word, ' We are on this side in this 
great contest ; we are on the side of freedom, free men, 
and free labor,' it would be worth ten million dollars 
to have the word spoken, and to have it spoken now, 
and would place that State on the side of the Government 
of the country." The presiding officer : '" The question 
recurs on the amendment of the senator from Missouri, 
to strike out ^seventy-six,' and insert * eighty- five. ' " 
Mr. Wilson said, "I want the privilege of voting to 
give ten million dollars for emancipation in 1876 ; so 
that the alternative presented to the people of Missouri 
will be this : Emancipation in 1865, twenty million dol- 



TO EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES. 239 

lars ; emancipation in 1876, ten million dollars." — "I 
move," said Mr. Clark, "to fill the blank with ten mil- 
lion dollars ; and on that amendment I will ask for the 
yeas and nays." The yeas and nays were ordered. Mr. 
Clark said, " The effect of the amendment will be pre- 
cisely this, as I understand it : We pay twenty million 
dollars for immediate emancipation by 1865, and pay 
ten million dollars for gradual emancipation in 1876." 
The question, being taken by yeas and nays, resulted 
— yeas 16, nays 21. "I now move," said Mr. Wilson 
of Massachusetts, "to amend the amendment of the 
committee by striking out all after the w^ord ^ that,' and 
inserting the following : ' Whenever satisfactory evidence 
shall be presented to the President of the United States 
that the State of Missouri has adopted a law, ordinance, 
or other provision, for the emancipation of all the slaves 
therein, and for the exclusion of slavery for ever there- 
after from the State, it shall be his duty to prepare 
and dehver to the Governor of Missouri twenty million 
dollars in bonds of the United States, bearing interest 
at the rate of five per cent per annum, and payable 
thirty years after the date thereof, to be used by that 
State to compensate for the inconveniences produced by 
such change of system.'" JVIr. Grimes (Rep.) of Iowa 
moved to strike out "twenty million dollars," and insert 
" ten million dollars." — "I am willing," he remarked, 
"to go before the people of my State, and undertake to 
justify — I believe I shall be justified in making an 
appropriation of ten million dollars to create freedom, 
and only freedom, in the State of Missouri, from and 
after 1865. T am willing to take the responsibility of 
giving that vote, and stand the test before the freemen 



240 AID TO THE STATES 

of Iowa ; but informed as I am in regard to the condi- 
tion of slavery in Missouri, knowing as little as I do 
of the number of slaves within the State, and of their 
value, I am unwilling at this time to vote more than 
ten million dollars." 

Mr. Wilson of Massachusetts said, " One proposition 
is to put twenty million dollars in the pockets of the 
slaveholders, and give freedom to the slaves on the 4th 
of July, 1865 : the other proposition is to give ten mil- 
lion dollars, and extend the time twelve years, — to 
1876. One proposition fills the slaveholders' pockets 
with our money at once, gives freedom to the bondman, 
and brings content and peace there : the other propo- 
sition puts off emancipation for twelve years, and blasts 
the hopes of thousands of these people, and makes them 
discontented ; and they will run away whenever they can." 
Mr. Lane of Kansas declared, " So far as the blacks 
are concerned, they will be practically as free under an 
act of gradual emancipation to take effect in 1876 as 
under an act to take effect in 1865. . . . I assure the 
senator from Massachusetts, with some knowledge of 
the subject of which I speak, that an emancipation bill 
to take full effect in 1876, so far as the black is con- 
cerned, is as potent in securing him freedom as an act 
to take effect in 1865." — "I confess I am surprised," 
replied Mr. Wilson of Massachusetts, "that the sena- 
tor from Kansas, who has such practical views on 
these questions, and is so earnest in the cause, can 
think that these slaves, who are now kept under 
chain, to prevent whose running away, as he admits, 
armed men have to traverse the State, would be con- 
tented with an act promising them freedom thirteen 



TO EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES. 241 

years hence. Pass an act to make them all free in 
two years, and they will be contented at once. They 
will shout for joy, and offer up prayers to Almighty 
God for our action and the action of the emancipa- 
tionists : but if you pass an act that they shall not be 
free for thirteen years, and that, in the mean time, 
they may be worked for nothing, sold, sent out of the 
State, and, if they run away, the Fugitive-slave Law 
may be brought to bear to bring them back, they will 
not be contented ; they will be turbulent. The very 
hopes of freedom, thus baffled, will excite them to 
action, and they will run away ; and there will be dis- 
content and trouble in that State on the part of master 
and slave." Mr. Kennedy (Dem.) of Maryland was 
opposed to all these measures. "Let us alone. The 
laws of political economy, of inevitable destiny, are 
working out a remedy for slavery there. Do not tram- 
mel us with questions that may precipitate issues that 
we cannot control, and which may involve our beloved 
State in the most horrid scenes of fratricidal war." 

On the amendment of the Committee on the Judi- 
ciary, by Mr. Harris, to strike out all after the enacting 
clause, and insert an amendment giving twenty million 
dollars for immediate emancipation, Mr. Wilson of 
Missouri moved to strike out "twenty million," and 
insert " twenty-five million " dollars, — yeas 2, nays 
36. Mr. Davis spoke in opposition to the bill. Mr. 
Turpie (Dem.) of Indiana followed in opposition to 
the measure and the policy of the Administration. 
"Do senators," he asked, "still desire to continue to 
agitate this most odious doctrine of interference with 
the sovereignty of the States ? Do they still desire to 

21 



242 AID TO THE STATES 

continue to agitate this dangerous and disgraceful ele- 
ment in the political history of the country ? If they 
do, let them vote for the Missouri bill." Mr. Wall 
(Dem.) of New Jersey opposed the bill. He said, 
" The President of the United States, in his message, 
told the country that history would never forget him 
nor this Congress. Sir, I do not think it will. As 
Sir Charles Townshend once said to Lord Thurlow, 
who was an exceedingly profane man, when, in a burst 
of enthusiasm upon the floor of Parliament, he said, 
*If I forget my sovereign, may my God forget me !' 
*No, no,' said the witty Townshend: ^he will see you 
damned first ! ' And that, senators, I am afraid will be 
our condition with history, if we go on passing these 
enormous acts." 

Mr. Ten Eyck (Rep.) of New Jersey addressed the 
Senate in favor of putting " the bill in such a shape 
that we may vote to aid the State of Missouri, and 
thus establish a precedent for the other States that may 
ask for assistance in the gradual abolition of slavery." 
Mr. Richardson (Dem.) of Illinois opposed the bill. 
" The Attorney-General," he said, " at the instance of 
the President, gives an opinion, announcing, for the 
first time from any national official position in this 
country, that Africans born here are citizens ; disre- 
garding the decision of the Supreme Court of the 
United States in the Dred Scott case, — the highest 
legal tribunal in the land. . . . The President wanted 
this opinion for some purpose. What was that pur- 
pose ? Evidently for the advantage and benefit of the 
' free American of African descent.' He has thouofht 
of nothing else, wrote of nothin": else, talked of nothinoj 



TO EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES. 243 

else, dreamed of nothing else, since his election to the 
Presidency ; and I fear he will think of nothino- else 
until our Union is dissolved, our Constitution destroyed, 
and our nationality lost." 

Mr. Wilson of Missouri moved to amend by insert- 
ing as a new section : ^ That no part of the bonds herein 
specified shall be delivered until the act of the Legisla- 
ture or the Constitutional Convention of the State of 
Missouri, providing for the emancipation of the slaves 
in said State, shall be submitted to a vote of the people, 
and approved by a majority of the legal voters of said 
State." Mr. Henderson opposed the amendment ; and 
Mr. Powell and INIr. Saulsbury advocated it. The 
question, being taken by yeas and nays, resulted — 
yeas 13, nays 27. 

"I am," said Mr. Harris, "an ardent friend of the 
measure proposed by this bill. I regard it as the most 
important measure that has been presented to the con- 
sideration of the Senate during its present session. 
Forty years ago, sir, the first great conflict between 
slavery and freedom took place in reference to the ad- 
mission of the State of Missouri. In that conflict, 
slavery was successful. It secured a predominance of 
political power which was never eflPectually checked 
until the election of 1860. I desire exceedingly, that, 
in reference to this very State, we should begin to roll 
back the tide of slavery. There is peculiar fitness in 
it ; but, sir, I see from the discussions here to-day that 
there is danger that this great and important measure 
may fail on account of some division of its friends in 
reference to the details. Apprehending that, and desu- 
ing to avoid it, I propose to make one further effort to 



244 AID TO THE STATES 

prepare a bill which shall harmonize the friends of the 
measure of emancipation in Missouri ; and, with a view 
to that, I move that the bill itself, with the proposition 
of the senator from Massachusetts, be recommitted to 
the Committee on the Judiciary." The motion was 
agreed to. 

Mr. Harris, on the 2d of February, reported back 
from the Judiciary Committee the bill, with amend- 
ments. On the 6th, Mr. Henderson moved to take up 
the bill ; and the motion was agreed to. On the 7th, 
the Senate resumed its consideration. Mr. Richardson 
moved that each one of the bonds issued by virtue of 
the provisions of this act shall have indorsed on the 
back thereof, in writing, as follows : " This bond was 
issued for the purpose of paying for slaves emanci- 
pated in the State of Missouri," — yeas 13, nays 27. 
Mr. Dixon (Rep.) of Connecticut moved to strike out 
"twenty million," and insert "eleven million" dollars, 
— yeas 14, nays 24. Mr. Collamer (Rep.) of Ver- 
mont moved to strike out " twenty million," and insert 
"fifteen million" dollars, — yeas 15, nays 21. Mr. 
Sumner (Rep.) of Massachusetts moved to strike out 
"1876," and insert "1864." — "I move," he said, 
"to strikeout "^ seventy-six,' and insert '^ sixty-four,' so 
that the act of emancipation shall go into operation 
on the fourth day of July, 1864 ; and, sir, my reason 
for the amendment is this : this bill, as I understand it, 
is a bill of peace ; it is to bring tranquillity to a dis- 
turbed State. . . . Sir, for the sake of the United States 
at this moment, for the sake of Missouri herself, for the 
sake of every slave-master in Missouri, and for the sake 
of every slave, I insist that this proposition shall go 



TO EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES. 245 

into execution at the nearest possible day. The testi- 
mony of reason, of common sense, and of history, is 
imiform in that direction ; and I challenge any contra- 
diction to it." 

Mr. Willey (Union) of Virginia thought it would 
be much better for Missouri and for the slave, if, instead 
of "1876," it was "1900." Mr. Wilson of Missouri 
understood Mr. Sumner to desire to strike out "1876," 
" for the purpose of forcing immediate emancipation ; " 
and therefore he could not vote for it. Mr. Henderson 
wished to stand by the bill as reported by the Commit- 
tee on the Judiciary. Mr. Davis spoke at great length 
in opposition to the bill and amendment. In the course 
of his speech, he declared that " the negroes are re- 
claimed savages, and you want to put them in a position 
where they will relapse into savagism." — "Allow me 
to suggest," remarked Mr. Grimes, "that it cannot be 
possible that this race, after they have been under the 
humanizing effects of ' the domestic institution ' as it is 
enjoyed by the State of Kentucky, can be regarded in 
the same light with the savages whose employment Lord 
Chatham denounced." The question, being taken by 
yeas and nays on Mr. Sumner's amendment, resulted 
— yeas 11, nays 26. Mr. Powell denounced the bill. 
"Is there," he asked, "any morality in it? What kind 
of morals is that, that will take from the people of a 
State, against their will, their property, not for the 
purpose of benefiting the State, but for the purpose of 
gi-atifying the fanatical zeal of a party temporarily in 
power ? " 

On the 12th, the Senate resumed the consideration 
of the bill, and IVIr. Saulsbury spoke in opposition to 

21* 



246 AID TO THE STATES 

the measure. Mr. Sumner moved to amend the amend- 
ment by strikmg out "three hundred," and inserting 
"two hundred" dollars, as the measure of value of 
slaves, — yeas 19, nays 17. Mr. Sumner then moved 
to strike out the words " gradual or," in section one, 
so that the money will be paid on evidence of " the im- 
mediate emancipation of all slaves therein." The 
question, being taken by yeas and nays, resulted — 
yeas 11, nays 27. 

Mr. Sumner moved to amend the House bill by 
striking out " ten million," and inserting " twenty mil- 
lion " dollars. On motion of Mr. Fessenden, the yeas 
and nays were taken, — yeas 3, nays 37. The ques- 
tion recurring on the amendment reported by Mr. Har- 
ris to the House bill, Mr. Sumner closed the debate in 
a brief, concise, and eloquent speech. He said, " Pro- 
crastination is the thief, not only of time, but of virtue 
itself; but such is the nature of man, that he is disposed 
always to delay, so that he does nothing to-day which 
he can put off till to-morrow. Perhaps in no single 
matter has this disposition been more apparent than 
with regard to slavery. Every consideration of hu- 
manity, justice, religion, reason, common sense, and 
history, all demanded the instant cessation of an intol- 
erable wrong, without procrastination or delay. But 
human nature would not yield ; and we have been driven 
to argue the question, whether an outrage, asserting 
property in man, denying the conjugal relation, annul- 
ling the parental relation, shutting out human improve- 
ment, and robbing its victim of all the fruits of his 
industry, — the whole, in order to compel work w^ithout 
wages, — should be stopped instantly or gradually. It 



TO EMANCIPATE THEIR SLAVES. 247 

is only when we regard slavery in its essential ele- 
ments, and look at its unutterable and unquestionable 
atrocity, that we can fully comprehend the mingled 
folly and wickedness of this question. If It were 
merely a question of economy or a question of policy, 
then the Senate might properly debate whether the 
change should be instant or gradual ; but considera- 
tions of economy and policy are all absorbed in the 
higher claims of justice and humanity. There is no 
question whether justice and humanity shall be im- 
mediate or gradual. ... If you would contribute to the 
strength and glory of the United States ; if you would 
bless Missouri ; if you would benefit the slave-master ; 
if you would elevate the slave ; and, still further, if you 
would aflford an example which shall fortify and sanctify 
the Republic, making it at once citadel and temple, — 
do not put oif the day of freedom. In this case, more 
than in any other, he gives twice who quickly gives." 

The question was on Mr. Harris's substitute ; and, 
being taken by yeas and nays, resulted — yeas 26, 
nays 10. So the amendment as amended was con- 
curred in. The question was then taken on the passage 
of the bill as amended, — yeas 23, nays 18. So the 
bill was passed by the Senate. 

In the House of Representatives, when the bill was 
taken from the Speaker's table, ^Ir. Norton (Dem.) of 
Missouri raised the point of order, that the bill must 
have its first consideration in the Committee of the 
Whole on the State of the Union. The Speaker ruled 
that the point of order was well taken. Mr. White 
(Rep.) of Indiana, Chairman of the Select Committee 
on Emancipation, moved its reference to that commit- 



248 AID TO THE STATES TO EMANCIPATE. 

tee. Mr. Yallandigham demanded the yeas and nays 
on the motion of reference, — yeas 81, nays 51. On 
the 3d of March, Mr. White, from the Select Commit- 
tee, moved to suspend the rules, so that the House may 
proceed to the consideration of the bill to aid the State 
of Missouri in emancipation, reported from the Select 
Committee on Emancipation. The question was taken ; 
and there were — yeas 63, nays 57 ; and it was decided 
in the negative, two-thirds not voting for the suspen- 
sion of the rules. So the bill to aid Missouri in the 
emancipation of the slaves therein was lost in the House 
of Representatives in the closing hours of the Thirty- 
seventh Congress. 



249 



CHAPTER Xin. 

AIVIENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

MB. ASHLEY'S BILL. — MR. WILSON'S JOINT RESOLUTION. — HOUSE COM- 
MITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY. — MR. HENT)ERS0N'S JOINT RESOLUTION. 

— MR. SUMNER'S RESOLUTION. — MR. HENDERSON'S AMENDMENT RE- 
PORTED WITH AN AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. TRUMBULL. — MR. 
WILSON. — MR. DAVIS'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. SAULSBURY. 

— MR. CLARK, — MR. HOAVE. — MR. JOHNSON. — MR. DAVIS'S AMEND- 
MENTS. — MR. POWELL'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. HARLAN. 

— MR. HALE. — MR. m'DOUGALL. — MR. HENDRICKS. — MR. HENDER- 
SON. — MR. SUMNER. — MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF 
MR. TRUMBULL. —^ MR. HOWARD. — PASSAGE OF THE JOINT RESOLU- 
TION IN THE SENATE. — MR. MORRIS'S SPEECH. — REMARKS OF MR. 
HERRICK. — MR. KELLOGG. — MR. PRUYN. — MR. WOOD. — MR. HIGBY. 

— MR. wheeler's AMENDMENT. — MR. KELLOGG OF MICHIGAN. — MR. 
ROSS. — MR. HOLMAN. — MR. THAYER. — MR. MALLORY. — MR. INGER- 
SOLL. — MR. PENDLETON'S AMENDMENT. — JOINT RESOLUTION DE- 
FEATED. — MR. Ashley's motion to reconsider. 

THE Speaker of the House of Representatives, on 
Monday the 14th of December, 1863, after an- 
nouncing the standing committees, stated that the first 
business in order was the call of the States for bills and 
joint resolutions. When the State of Ohio was called, 
Mr. Ashley (Rep.), Chau-man of the Committee on 
Territories, introduced a bill to provide for submitting 
to the States a proposition to amend the Constitution, 
prohibiting slavery. The proposed amendment de- 
clared that " slavery is hereby for ever prohibited in 
all the States of the Union, and in all Territories now 
owned, or which may hereafter be acquired, by the 
United States." Mr. William J. Allen (Dem.) of 



250 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Illinois demanded the reading of the bill, and it was 
read in full by the clerk. Mr. Ashley then moved its 
reference to the Committee on the Judiciary. Mr. 
Holman (Dem.) of Indiana objected to its second read- 
ing ; but the Speaker overruled his point of order, and 
the bill was read twice, and referred to the Judiciary 
Committee. 

When the State of Iowa was called, Mr. Wilson 
(Rep.), Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, 
introduced a joint resolution, submitting to the legis- 
latures of the States this amendment to the Constitu- 
tion : — 

" Sect. 1. — Slavery, being incompatible with a free gov- 
ernment, is for ever prohibited in the United States ; and 
involuntary servitude shall be permitted only as a punishment 
for crime. 

" Sect. 2. — Congress shall have power to enforce the fore- 
going section of' this article by appropriate legislation." 

Mr. Fernando Wood of New York, the acknowl- 
edged leader, in the House, of the peace Demo- 
crats, demanded the reading of the amendment ; and 
it was read twice, and referred to the Judiciary Com- 
mittee. 

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom the House 
committed the bill of Mr. Ashley and the joint resolu- 
tion of Mr. Wilson, was made up, by Speaker Colfax, 
of five Republicans, three Democrats, and Ex-Governor 
Thomas of Maryland, who generally sustained the pol- 
icy of the Administration. Mr. Wilson of Iowa, 
chau'man of the committee, Ex-Governor Boutwell of 
Massachusetts, and Mr. Williams of Pennsylvania, 
were known to be earnest and uncompromising anti- 



AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 251 

slavery men ; Mr. Woodbrldge of Vermont and ]\Ir. 
Morris of New York, though less known, were hardly 
less firm in adherence to the policy of emancipation ; 
Ex-Governor King (Dem.) of Missouri had allied him- 
self to the slave-preserving interests of his State ; Mr. 
Bliss (Dem.) of Ohio was an avowed enemy of the 
emancipation policy of the Administration ; and Mr. 
Kernan (Dem.) of New York, though an able lawyer 
and liberal legislator, was the personal associate and 
political adherent of Governor Seymour, and was gen- 
erally regarded as too deeply interested in the aspirations 
and fortunes of his friend and leader always to follow 
the convictions of his judgment or the generous im- 
pulses of his heart. Ex-Governor Thomas of Maryland 
had recently committed himself to the policy of eman- 
cipation, and had allied himself to the party destined to 
make his native State a free commonwealth. 

On the 11th of January, 1864, Mr. Henderson (Ind.) 
of Missouri introduced into the Senate a joint resolu- 
tion, proposing an amendment to the Constitution, 
providing that slavery shall not exist in the United 
States. The proposed amendment was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary. That committee was 
composed of five Republicans, — Mr. Trumbull of Illi- 
nois, Mr. Foster of Connecticut, Mr. Ten Eyck of 
New Jersey, Mr. Harris of New York, and Mr. How- 
ard of Michigan; and of two Democrats, — Mr. Bay- 
ard of Delaware and Mr. Powell of Kentucky. 

Mr. Sumner of Massachusetts, on the 8th of Febru- 
ary, introduced a joint resolution, providing that, 
" everywhere within the limits of the United States, 
and of each State or Territory thereof, all persons are 



252 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

equal before the law, so that no person can hold another 
as a slave." Mr. Sumner moved the reference of the 
resolution to the Select Committee on Slavery, of which 
he was chairman. Mr. Trumbull would refer it to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, that had under consider- 
tion the amendment introduced early in the session by 
Mr. Henderson of Missouri. Mr. Fessenden suggested 
that Mr. Trumbull move to amend the motion of refer- 
ence so as to substitute the Committee on the Judiciary. 
Mr. Trumbull replied, that he had suggested that refer- 
ence to the senator from Massachusetts, thinking he 
would sive it that direction. Mr. Doolittle of Wiscon- 
sin had never before heard that an amendment to the 
Constitution was ever referred to any other than the Ju- 
diciary Committee, and he thought it clearly ought to 
go to that committee. Mr. Sumner thought the reso- 
lution under which the Select Committee on Slavery 
was raised broad enough to cover any proposition in 
regard to slavery ; but if the senator from Illinois de- 
sired the resolution to go to the Judiciary Committee, 
of which that senator was the honored head, he should 
consent with the greatest pleasure. Mr. Saulsbury of 
Delaware moved the indefinite postponement of the 
resolution : eight senators voted yea, and thirty- one 
senators voted nay. The resolution was then referred 
to the Judiciary Committee. 

On the 10th of February, Mr. Trumbull, from the 
Committee on the Judiciary, reported adversely on Mr. 
Sumner's resolution. At the same time, he made a 
report on the joint resolution originally introduced by 
Mr. Henderson, to strike out all after the resolving 
clause, and insert, — 



AMENDMENT OF THE COXSTITUTIOX. 253 

" That the following article be proposed to the legislatures 
of the several States, as an amendment to the Constitution of 
the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of 
said legislatures, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as 
a part of the said Constitution ; namely : — 

"Art. 13, Sect. 1. — Neither slavery nor involuntary 
servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the 
party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within 
the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

" Sect. 2. — Congress shall have power to enforce this ar- 
ticle by appropriate legislation." 

On Monday, the 28th of March, the Senate, as in 
Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the 
joint resolution ; the pending question being the amend- 
ment proposed by the Judiciary Committee to the ori- 
ginal resolution introduced by Mr. Henderson. The 
chairman of the committee, Mr. Trumbull, opened 
the debate in a brief, clear, and comprehensive state- 
ment of the question. Speaking for the committee, he 
said, "I think, then, it is reasonable to suppose, that, 
if this proposed amendment passes Congress, it will, 
within a year, receive the ratification of the requisite 
number of States to make it a part of the Constitu- 
tion. That accomplished, we are for ever freed of this 
troublesome question. We accomplish then what the 
statesmen of this country have been struggling to ac- 
complish for years. We take this question entirely 
away from the politics of the country. We relieve 
Congress of sectional strifes ; .and, what is better than 
all, we restore to a whole race that freedom which is 
theirs by the gift of God, but which we for generations 

have wickedly denied them." 

22 



254 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Mr. Wilson (Rep.) of Massachusetts followed Mr. 
Trumbull in advocacy of the proposed amendment. 
" The crowning act," he said, " in this series of acts 
for the restriction and extinction of slavery in America, 
is this proposed amendment to the Constitution, pro- 
hibiting the existence of slavery for evermore in the 
Republic of the United States. If this amendment 
shall be incorporated by the will of the nation into 
the Constitution of the United States, it will obliterate 
the last lingering vestiges of the slave system — its 
chattelizing, degrading, and bloody codes ; its dark, 
malignant, barbarizing spirit ; all it was and is ; every 
thing connected with it or pertaining to it — from the 
face of the nation it has scarred with moral desolation, 
from the bosom of the country it has reddened with the 
blood and strewn with the graves of patriotism. The 
incorporation of this amendment into the organic law 
of the nation will make impossible for evermore the 
re-appearing of the discarded slave system, and the re- 
turning of the despotism of the slave-master's domina- 
tion. Then, sir, when this amendment to the Consti- 
tution shall be consummated, the shackle will fall from 
the limbs of the hapless bondman, and the lash drop 
from the weary hand of the task-master. Then the 
sharp cry of the agonizing hearts of severed families 
will cease to vex the weary ear of the nation, and to 
pierce the ear of Him whose judgments are now aven- 
ging the wrongs of centuries. Then the slave mart, 
pen, and auction-block, with their clanking fetters for 
human limbs, will disappear from the land they have 
brutalized ; and the schoolhouse will rise to enlighten 
the darkened intellect of a race imbruted by long years 



AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 255 

of enforced ignorance. Then the sacred rights of 
human nature, the hallowed family relations of husband 
and wife, parent and child, will be protected by the 
guardian spirit of that law which makes sacred alike 
the proud homes and lowly cabins of freedom. Then 
the scarred earth, blighted by the sweat and tears of 
bondage, will bloom again under the quickening culture 
of rewarded toil. Then the wronged victim of the 
slave system, the poor white man, the sand-hiller, the 
clay-eater, of the wasted fields of Carolina, impover- 
ished, debased, dishonored by the system that makes toil 
a badge of disgrace, and the instruction of the brain 
and soul of man a crime, will lift his abashed forehead 
to the skies, and begin to run the race of improvement, 
progress, and elevation. Then the nation, ^regenerat- 
ed and disinthralled by the genius of universal emanci- 
pation,' will run the career of development, power, and 
glory, quickened, animated, and guided by the spirit 
of the Christian democracy, that ' pulls not the highest 
down, but lifts the lowest up.' " 

On the 30th, Mr. Davis of Kentucky addressed the 
Senate in opposition to the amendment, in a lengthy 
and discursive speech, in which he vehemently assailed 
the Administration. " The most effective single cause 
of the pending war," he avowed, " was the intermed- 
dling of Massachusetts with the institution of slavery." 
He declared it to be an " objection of overruling weight, 
that no revision of the Constitution, in any form, ought 
to be undertaken under the auspices of the party in 
power." ]\Ir. Davis closed his speech by the emphatic 
declaration, that "if the dominant party can continue 
their power and rule, either by the will or acquiescence 



256 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

of the people, or the exercise of the formidable powers 
which it has usurped, I am not able to see any termina- 
tion of the present and still growing ills short of the 
ordeal of general and bloods/ anarchy. ^^ On the 3d 
of March, Mr. Davis had presented an amendment, in 
which he proposed that the States of Maine and Mas- 
sachusetts should form and constitute one State of the 
United States, to be called East New England ; and the 
States of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
and Vermont, should form and constitute one State of 
the United States, to be called West New England. 
This division of New Eno;land into two States — Maine 
and Massachusetts, separated by New Hampshire, con- 
stituting East New England ; and New Hampshire 
and Vermont, Connecticut and Rhode Island, sepa- 
rated by Massachusetts, constituting West New Eng- 
land — seemed, to those familiar with the map of the 
country, to be rather an awkward geographical divi- 
sion. But, at the close of his speech, the senator from 
Kentucky, having doubtless extended his geographical 
researches, proposed a new arrangement, — that "the 
States of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, are 
formed into and shall constitute one State of the United 
States, to be called North New England ; and the 
States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode 
Island, are formed into and constitute one State of the 
United States, to be called South New England." 
But this new geographical and political division of 
New England was not brought by its originator to the 
test of a vote of the Senate. 

Mr. Saulsbury of Delaware follow^ed on the 31st in 
opposition to the amendment, and in vindication of 



AMENDiVlENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 257 

slavery on principle. "The Almighty," he said, "im- 
mediately after the Flood, condemned a whole race to 
servitude. He said, ^ Cm^sed be Canaan.' Slavery 
continued among all people until the advent of the 
Christian era. It was recognized in the new dispen- 
sation which was to supersede the old. It has the 
sanction of God's own apostles; for, when Paul sent 
back Onesimus to Philemon, he sent his doulos^ a 
slave born as such." Mr. Clark of New Hampshire 
followed Mr. Saulsbury, in a speech of much clear- 
ness and force, in favor of the amendment. " I am 
told," he said, "that this is not the time for such 
an amendment of the Constitution. Pray when, sir, 
will it come? Will it be when the President has 
issued more and more calls for two or three hundred 
thousand men of the country's bravest and best ? Will 
it be when more fathers and husbands and sons have 
fallen, and their graves are thicker by the banks of the 
rivers and streamlets and hillsides? Will it be when 
there are more scenes like this I hold in my hand, — 
an artist's picture, a photograph of an actuality, — a 
quiet spot by the side of a river, with the moon shining 
upon the w^ater, and a lonely sentinel keeping guard ; 
and here, in the open space, the head-boards marking 
the burial-places of many a soldier-boy, and an open 
grave to receive another inmate ; and, underneath, the 
wox'ds, * All quiet on the Potomac'? AVill it be when 
such scenes of quiet are more numerous, not only along 
the Potomac, but by the Rapidan, the Chickahominy, 
the Stone, the Tennessee, the Cumberland, the Big 
Black, and the Red? Sir, now, in my judgment. Is 
the time, and the fitting time. Never until now could 

22* 



258 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

« 

this amendment have been carried ; and now I hope 
and believe it can." 

On the 4th of April, Mr. Howe of Wisconsin made a 
quaint and earnest speech for the amendment. "What," 
he asked, "are the apologies for this institution? I 
have heard them. We hear them daily. That which 
we hear the oftenest, that which is insisted upon the 
loudest, is, that slaves are only made of negroes, or of 
the descendants of negroes, and that they, as a race, are 
inferior to the whites. Whether the fact is so or not, I 
shall not spend a moment in arguing ; but I affirm this, 
that if, in the whole catalosfue of excuses that are offered 
for crimes and offences, one single excuse could be found 
more odious than the crime itself, it is this one excuse for 
slavery. Admit that, as a race, they are inferior to the 
race of the whites: I ask senators, I ask men, if that is a 
fact which authorizes you or me to enslave them. Sir, 
the excuse not only shames what sense of manhood there 
is in us who are grown up, but it shames all the manliness 
of the boys of the country." Mr. Johnson, on the 5th 
of April, addressed the Senate in support of the amend- 
ment. The representative of a slave State just casting 
aside its burden, a lawyer of acknowledged eminence, 
and a statesman of large experience, his speech com- 
manded the marked attention of the Senate. In the 
outset of his remarks, he most emphatically avowed, "I 
am satisfied now, and I was satisfied throughout all the 
contests in which that question has been presented, that, 
sooner or later, the present condition of things was in- 
evitable, or something nearly like them. If," said he, 
"there be justice in God's providence, if we are at 
liberty to suppose that he will not abandon man and 



AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 259 

his rights to their own fate, and suffer their destiny to 
be worked out by their own means and with their own 
lights, I never doubted that the day must come when 
human slavery would be exterminated by a convulsive 
effort on the part of the bondmen, unless that other 
and better reason and influence which mioht brins: it 
about should be successful, — the mild though powerful 
influences of that higher and elevated morality which 
the Christian relioion teaches." 

At the close of Mr. Johnson's speech, ]\Ir. Davis 
moved to strike out all after the word " namely " in 
the amendment reported by the committee, and insert, 
" No negro, or person whose mother or grandmother 
is or was a negro, shall be a citizen of the United 
States, and be eligible to any civil or military office, 
or to any place of trust or profit, under the United 
States." The question, being taken by yeas and nays, 
resulted — yeas 5, nays 32. Mr. Davis then proposed 
to amend the amendment reported by the committee 
by adding these words to the first section of the pro- 
posed article : '' But no slave shall be entitled to his or 
her freedom under this amendment, if resident, at the 
time it takes effect , in any State the laws of which forbid 
free nesfroes to reside therein, until removed from such 
State by the Government of the United States." Upon 
this amendment he asked the yeas and nays ; but only 
four senators sustained his call, and his amendment was 
rejected without a division. Mr. Davis further pro- 
posed to amend the amendment by adding at the end 
of the second section, that Congi-ess shall distribute the 
emancipated slaves among the free States. This amend- 
ment was rejected without a division. Mr. Powell now 



2 GO AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

moved to amend the amendment of tlie committee by 
addino- at the end of the first section, "No slaves shall 
be emancipated by this article, unless the owner thereof 
shall be first paid the value of the slave or slaves so 
emancipated," — yeas 2, nays 34. On the 6th of April, 
Mr. Harlan of Iowa addressed the Senate in an exhaust- 
ive speech in favor of the amendment of the Constitution. 
He emphatically denied any just title to the services of 
the adult offspring of the slave mother, and pronounced 
it "a mere usurpation, without any known mode of jus- 
tification under any existing code of laws human or 
divine. . . . The justice of this claim," he declared, 
"cannot be found either in reason, natural justice, or 
the principles of the common law, or in any positive 
municipal or statute regulation of any State, or in the 
Hebrew code written by the finger of God protruded 
from the flame of fire on the summit of Sinai." Mr. 
Harlan was followed by Mr. Saulsbury in a labored 
defence of slavery, and in denunciation of the proposed 
amendment of the Constitution, as a "fraud" upon the 
nation. He pronounced " such an amendment to be 
the clearest cause of secession that could possibly be fur- 
nished or that ever has been furnished to any State." 
Mr. Hale made an earnest, eloquent, and effective 
appeal in favor of placing the nation in harmony with 
the laws of God. He closed his speech by saying, 
" Sir, when the great founder of the Dutch Republic 
(William the Silent, I think he was called), after losing 
his armies, his treasure, his finances, and every thing 
but his own indomitable courage and his Christian faith, 
counselled his followers again to rally, and again to 
strike for freedom, they asked him, 'Have you secured 



A3IENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 261 

any alliances? are there any of the potentates and 
powers of the earth that you could associate with, that 
will aid you in the struggle in which you propose to- en- 
gage?' his answer was, 'Yes : I have allied myself to 
the King of kings, and in his strength I invite you to go 
to battle.' Sir, that is the position, and the only posi- 
tion, this nation can occupy. If we cannot do that ; if 
we cannot put away from us the great sin and the great 
crime which has separated us, not only from the sym- 
pathies of the Christian world, but from the blessings 
of the God of the Christian world, — then indeed is 
our cause hopeless and our struggle desperate." Mr. 
M'Dougall of California, in a brief, clear, and emphatic 
speech, denounced the proposed amendment of the Con- 
stitution, and the entire antislavery policy of the Gov- 
ernment. He would vote ao:ainst the amendment of the 
Constitution if he stood alone in the Senate. The 
adoption of the amendment "would add twenty -five 
or fifty per cent to the vital forces of the Southern Con- 
federacy." He had opposed the antislavery policy. 
"It achieves," he declared, "nothing that tends toward 
victory : it only arouses the fiercer animosity of an 
already violent foe." Mr. Powell was opposed to any 
amendment ; but, if we are to enter upon that work, let 
us exhibit to the world that our ideas are not restricted 
to one, — the subject of African slavery; and he pro- 
posed several amendments, which were voted down, 
without reference to then- merits, by the friends of the 
amendment to the Constitution for the extinction of 
slavery. Mr. Davis proposed an amendment concerning 
the election of President, which was rejected without a 
division. The amendment of the Judiciary Committee 



262 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

was then adopted, and the joint resolution reported to 
the Senate as amended. 

On the 7th, Mr. Hendricks of Indiana spoke in op- 
position to the amendment of the Constitution. He had 
never, he said, discussed the moral question of slavery 
before the people. "I do not," he said, " intend to dis- 
cuss it here, because with the moral questions of slavery 
the Federal Government has nothing to do. Are the 
negroes," he asked, "to remain among us? I can say 
to the senator, that they never will associate with the 
white people of this country upon terms of equality." 
Mr. Henderson of Missouri, the mover of the original 
proposition, followed Mr. Hendricks in a lengthy, 
thorough, and effective speech in advocacy of the ex- 
tinction of slavery by U constitutional amendment. 
" Our ancestors," he said, " acknowledged the truth, 
when they proclaimed the inalienable right of liberty 
unto all men. That declaration gave them liberty. It 
fired the world, and enlisted the sympathies of civiliza- 
tion. So soon as they obtained it for themselves, how- 
ever, the false counsels of expediency came to refuse it 
to others." 

Mr. Sumner, on the 8th, spoke in favor of the ex- 
tinction of slavery by constitutional amendments and 
by other modes of legislation. " There is nothing," he 
declared, "in the Constitution, on which slavery can rest, 
or find even the least support. Even on the face of that 
instrument, it is an outlaw; but, if we look further at 
its provisions, we find at least four distinct sources of 
power, which, if executed, must render slavery impos- 
sible, while the preamble makes them all vital for free- 
dom : first, the power to provide for the common defence 



A3IEXDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 263 

and general welfare ; secondly, the power to raise armies 
and maintain navies ; thirdly, the power to guarantee 
to every State a republican form of government ; and, 
fourthly, the power to secure liberty to every person 
restrained without due process of law. But all these 
provisions are something more than powers : they are 
duties also. And yet we are constantly and painfully 
reminded in this Chamber that pending measures against 
slavery are unconstitutional. Sir, this is an immense 
mistake. Nothing against slavery can he unconstitu- 
tional. It is only hesitation which is unconstitutional." 
Mr. Sumner closed by moving to amend the bill by 
striking out the words of the proposed article, and in- 
serting the following : " All persons are equal before the 
law, so that no person can hold another as a slave ; and 
Congress may make all laws necessary and j^roper 
to carry this article into effect everywhere within the 
United States and the jurisdiction thereof." 

Mr. Powell did not believe, with IVir. Clark, that 
" slavery was the cause of all our woes. The bad faith 
of the abolitionists had done more to bring this war 
about than all the efforts of the fire-eaters of the South." 
At the close of Mr. Powell's speech, the Vice-Presi- 
dent stated the question to be on the amendment moved 
by Mr. Sumner. " In placing," said Mr. Sumner, " a 
new and important text into the Constitution, it seems 
to me we cannot be too careful in the language we 
adopt." The amendment proposed by the committee, 
he thought, started with the attempt to reproduce the 
Jefferson Ordinance ; and he doubted the expediency 
of reproducing that ordinance : for he objected " to the 
Jefferson Ordinance, even if it were presented in its 



264 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

original text. He should prefer the form sent to the 
Chair, which he offered as a suggestion ; but, if senators 
did not incline to it, he had no desire to press it." — 
"At an early stage of the session," said Mr. Trumbull, 
" the senator from Missouri introduced a proposition to 
amend the Constitution of the United States so as for 
ever to prohibit slavery. That resolution was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary. At a later day, a 
month or two afterwards, the senator from Massachu- 
setts also introduced a proposition to prohibit slavery. 
The committee had both those propositions before them. 
... I do not know that I should have adopted these 
precise words ; but a majority of the committee thought 
they were the best words : they accomplish the object ; 
and I cannot see why the senator from Massachusetts 
should be so pertinacious about particular words." — 
"I wish, as much as the senator from Massachusetts," 
said Mr. Howard of Michigan, "in making this amend- 
ment, to use significant language, — language that can- 
not be mistaken or misunderstood : but I prefer to 
dismiss all reference to French constitutions or French 
codes, and go back to the good old Anglo-Saxon language 
employed by our fathers in the Ordinance of 1787 ; an 
expression which has been adjudicated upon repeatedly, 
which is perfectly well understood both by the public 
and by judicial tribunals ; a phrase, I may say further, 
which is peculiarly near and dear to the people of the 
North-western Territory, from whose soil slavery was 
excluded by it." Mr. Sumner withdrew his proposition. 
Mr. Saulsbury offered an amendment embodied in 
twenty sections ; but, on a division, only two votes were 
given for it. Mr. M'Dougall thought, before the final 



A3IENDMEXT OF THE COXSTITUTIOX. 265 

vote was taken, it was due to himself to make a few 
remarks. "I look upon this policy," he said, "as bein^r 
a policy for sacrificing the whole of the colored people 
now occupying parts of this Republic. This policy will 
ingulf them. They can never commingle with us." 

The yeas and nays were then taken on the passage 
of the joint resolution, submitting to the legislatures of 
the several States a proposition to amend the Constitu- 
tion of the United States ; and 38 senators voted yea, 
and 6 senators voted nay, as follows : — 

Yeas. — Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, 
Conaess, Cowan, Dixon, Doohttle, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, 
Hale, Harding, Harlan, Harris, Henderson, Howard, Howe, Jolinson, 
Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Morrill, Nesniith, Pome- 
roy, Ramsey, Sherman, Sprague, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van 
Winkle, Wade, Wilkinson, Willey, and Wilson, — 38. 

Nays. — Messrs. Davis, Hendricks, M'Dougall, Powell, Riddle, and 
Saulsbury, — 6. 

In the House of Representatives, on the 31st of May, 
the joint resolution, submitting to the legislatures of 
the several States a proposition to amend the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, was taken up. Mr. Holman 
(Dem.) of Indiana objected to its second reading; and 
the Speaker stated the question to be, " Shall the 
joint resolution be rejected?" Mr. AVilson (Rep.) of 
Iowa demanded the previous question, and ^Nlr. Schenck 
(Rep.) of Ohio demanded the yeas and nays, — yeas 
55, nays 76. 

Mr. Wilson, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, 
having, at an early day before the proposed amendment 
was discussed in either House, made an elaborate speech 
in favor of the extinction of slavery by the adoption 
of a constitutional amendment, yielded the floor to Mr. 

23 



266 AI^IENDMENT OF THE COXSTITUTION. 

Morris of New York, a member of the Judiciary Com- 
mittee. "I aver," declared Mr. Morris, in opening the 
debate, " that no nation can violate any moral law, with- 
out incurring a penalty. No member of society, no 
matter how weak or humble, can be oppressed, without 
injury to the whole. It is an inexorable law. There 
is a system of compensation in the economy of God, 
and applicable to nations and individuals, as inevitable 
as that fire will burn. We may not admit it ; but time 
will realize the fact. We may not recognize the hand ; 
but the chastening will come as certainly as that God is 
just. Legislators as well as divines should remember 
these truths." 

Mr. Herrick (Dem.) of New York followed Mr. Mor- 
ris in opposition to the amendment. He declared that 
" the adoption of this measm'C could have no other effect 
than to seal for ever the dissolution of the Union : it 
meant nothing else than eternal disunion, continuous 
war." Mr. Kellogg (Rep.) of New York followed in 
support of the amendment, and for the suppression of 
the Rebellion. " No expense," he said, " no sacrifice, no 
allurement, must deter or divert us ; but rising with the 
emergency, and equal to every fate, we must meet and 
master every obstacle that stands in the way of the 
complete supremacy of the Constitution and the laws." 

The consideration of the question was resumed on 
the 14th of June; and Mr. Pruyn (Dem.) of New 
York addressed the House in opposition to the amend- 
ment. Mr. Fernando Wood (Dem.) of New York 
said that " the bloody and brutal policy of the Ad- 
ministration party had well-nigh destroyed all hope 
of reconstruction. This proposed alteration of the Con- 



AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 267 

stitution was beyond the power of the Government. It 
involves the extermination of the white men of the South- 
ern States, and the forfeiture of all the land and other 
property belonging to them. Negroes and military colo- 
nists will take the place of the race thus blotted out of 
existence. Is this intended as the last scene of the bloody 
drama of carnage and civil war now being prosecuted? 
The world looks on with horror, and it will leave to 
future ages a fearful warning to avoid similar acts of 
perfidious atrocity." Mr. Higby (Rep.) of California 
said, " The Constitution should be adapted to the condi- 
tion of the country where the noble men of the loyal 
States are giving up their lives and where they have 
given them up by thousands. Their bones are bleach- 
ing upon hundreds of battle-fields. They are drenching 
with their blood the soil over which they are mov- 
ing, with Victory perching on tlieir banners, and 
killing out the roots of slavery so that it cannot exist." 
"It is an attempt," said Mr. Kalbfleisch (Dem.) of 
New York, " to replenish their almost exhausted stock 
of political capital by creating a new Issue based upon 
the slavery question before the people, in the hope of 
renewing that agitation upon the turbulent waves of 
w^iich they were swept Into the power which they have 
so deplorably abused." Mr. Wheeler (Dem.) of AVis- 
consin presented an amendment to add to the resolution, 
— " that this article shall not apply to the States of 
Kentucky, Missouri, Delaware, and Maryland, until 
after the expiration of ten years from the tluic the 
same shall be ratified." " Slavery," said Mr. Shannon 
(Rep.) of California, " is paganism refined, brutality 
vitiated, dishonesty corrupted ; and, sii', we are asked 



268 AJklENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

to retain this curse, to protect it, after it has corrupted 
our sons, dishonored our daughters, subverted our insti- 
tutions, and shed rivers of the best blood of our country- 
men." Mr. Marcy (Dem.) of New Hampshire as- 
sured the supporters of the Administration that their 
" career was fast drawing to a close." Mr. CofFroth 
(Dem.) of Pennsylvania opposed the bill, and bitterly 
assailed the policy of the Administration. " Slavery," 
he exclaimed, " is denounced as the cause of the Rebel- 
lion. I deny this, though it may be the occasion, as 
money is the occasion of larceny, robbery, or burglary." 
— "I was here," said Mr. Kellogg (Rep.) of Michigan, 
" when the Rebellion broke out ; and I do not believe the 
adoption of the Crittenden Compromise would have 
postponed the war a single week. Southern senators 
laughed at the idea of being satisfied in such a way. 
They were determined to dissolve the Union, and estab- 
lish a separate government in conformity with their 
ideas ; and they firmly believed that we would allow 
them to do so. They had a supreme contempt for the 
people of the North, and never dreamed of the difficul- 
ties in the way, or the opposition they were to encounter. 
They had made up their minds to do as they pleased, 
and set the Government of the United States at defi- 
ance." Mr. Ross (Dem.) of Illinois advocated peace. 
He suggested that "we first agree upon an armistice, 
and then send commissioners, to meet, on the 4th of 
July, at Mount Vernon, around the grave of Washing- 
ton." He declared that " sug-o-estions in favor of an 
amicable adjustment" would not meet the approba- 
tion of the adherents of the Administration. Mr. 
Holman (Dem.) of Indiana said, "This bill, having 



AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 269 

passed the Senate, only awaits the approval of the 
House. Of all the measures of this disastrous Admin- 
istration, each in its turn producing new calamities, this 
attempt to tamper with the Constitution threatens the 
most permanent injury." 

The debate was continued, on the 15th of June, by 
Mr. Farnsworth (Rep.) of Illinois. "When," said he, 
"we stood in the breach, and declared that slavery 
should go no further ; that it should not spread over the 
land ; that they should not ' call the roll of their slaves 
under the shadow of Bunker Hill,' nor ' flog them in 
the corn-fields of Illinois,' — then the slaveholders 
brought on the Rebellion." Mr. Thayer (Rep.) of 
Pennsylvania declared that "humanity and civilization 
revolt against a sentiment so inhuman in itself, and 
so debasing to the mind that holds it, as the senti- 
ment which we listened to yesterday, — that slavery 
is the best possible condition of the negro race." — 
"I re-affirm it," said Mr. Fernando Wood. "I am 
willing," replied Mr. Thayer, " that he should re- 
affirm it. . . .1 can only say, that, for myself, I 
would not hold or avow a sentiment so barbarous, so 
cruel, and so inhuman in its character, as that, for all 
the wealth and honor that are embraced within the four 
quarters of the world." 

Mr. Mallory (Dem.) of Kentucky denounced the 
proposed amendment of the Constitution as a palpable 
violation of the reserved ri2:hts of the States." — 
"Madness and despair rule," said iVIr. Kelley (Rep.) 
of Pennsylvania ; " and I shall consume none of the brief 
time allotted to me by following the gentleman from 
Kentucky. . . . But, sir, the privilege is not often 

23* 



270 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

given to men to perform an act, the influence of whicli 
will be felt beneficently by the poor, the oppressed, the 
ignorant, and the degraded of all lands, and which 
will endure until terminated by the wreck of matter 
and the crush of worlds. I rise that I may thus 
publicly thank God, and the good people by whose 
suflTrages I am here to-day, for the golden opportunity 
afforded me of doing such an act." 

Mr. Edgerton (Dem.) of Indiana avowed that it 
was " better for our country, better for man, that negro 
slavery exist a thousand years, than that American 
white men lose their constitutional liberty in the extinc- 
tion of the constitutional sovereignty of the Federal 
States of this Union." — "Never," said Mr. Arnold 
(Rep.) of Illinois, "since the day when John Adams 
pleaded for the Declaration of Independence, has so 
important a question been submitted to an American 
Congress as that upon <yvhich you are now about to 
vote. The simino; of the immortal Declaration is 
a familiar picture in every log-cabin and residence 
all over the land. Pass this resolution, and the grand 
spectacle of this vote, which knocks off the fetters of 
a whole race, will make this scene immortal." Mr. 
Ingersoll (Rep.) of Illinois, the successor of Owen 
Lovejoy, followed Mr. Arnold in an earnest and 
eloquent appeal for the amendment. " I know full 
well," he said, "if the lamented Lovejoy, my honored 
and noble predecessor, could come to-day from the 
unseen world, and take his place among us, his manly 
and eloquent voice would be heard in this hall, as in 
days past, with all the earnestness of his great soul, 
pronouncing in favor of the adoption of this resolution 



AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 271 

in favor of universal liberty and the rights of man- 
kind." 

Mr. Randall (Dem.) of Pennsylvania maintained that 
" the only mode in which the Union can be restored, 
and put on the march of a newer and more glorious 
progress, is by having due regard to the mutual advan- 
tages and interests of the States." jNIr. Rollins of 
Missouri op2:)Osed the amendment in an earnest speech. 
Mr. Pendleton (Dem.) of Ohio moved, as a substi- 
tute for the joint resolution, a provision submitting it 
to the conventions of the several States, so that the 
ratification, if at all, shall be by conventions of three- 
fourths of the States. Mr. Pendleton made an elabo- 
rate speech in opposition to the amendment of the 
Constitution. "We must," he said, "retrace our 
steps ; we must return to State rights." At the close 
of ]\ir. Pendleton's speech, the House proceeded to 
vote. The amendments proposed by Mr. Wheeler 
and Mr. Pendleton were rejected. Mr. Holman de- 
manded the yeas and nays on the passage of the joint 
resolution, and they were ordered. 

The question was taken ; and it was decided in the 
negative, — yeas 93, nays 65, not voting 23, — as fol- 
lows : — 

Yeas. — Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, Anderson, Arnold, Baily, 
John D. Bakhvin, Baxter, Bearaan, Blaine, Blair, Blow, Boutwell, 
Boyd, Brandegee, Broomall, Ambrose W. Clark, Freeman Clarke, 
Cobb, Cole, Creswell, Dawes, Deming, Dixon, Donnelly, Driggs, 
Eckley, Eliot, Farnsworth, P'enton, Frank, Garfield, Goocli, Griswold, 
Hale, Higby, Hooper, Hotchkiss, Asaliel W. Hubbard, Jolui H. Hub- 
bard, Hulburd, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Julian, Kasson, Kelley, Francis 
W. Kellogg, Orlando Kellogg, Littlejohn, Loan, Longyear, Marvin, 
M'Clurg, M'Indoe, Samuel F. Miller, Moorhead, Morrill, Daniel 
Morris, Amos Myers, Leonard J^.Iyers, Norton, Odell, Charles O'Neill, 



272 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Orth, Patterson, Perham, Pike, Price, Alexander H. Rice, John H 
Rice, Sehenck, Scofield, Shannon, Sloan, Smith, Smithers, Spalding, 
Starr, Stevens, Thayer, Thomas, Tracy, Upson, Van Valkenburgh, 
Elihu B. Washbiirne, Webster, Whaley, Wheeler, Williams, Wilder, 
Wilson, Windom, and Woodbridge, — 93. 

Nays. — Messrs. James C. Allen, William J. Allen, Ancona, Ashley, 
Augustus C. Baldwin, Bliss, Brooks, James S. Brown, Chanler, 
Coffroth, Cox, Cravens, Dawson, Denison, Eden, Edgerton, Eldridge, 
Enghsh, Finck, Ganson, Grider, Harding, Harrington, Herrick, Hol- 
man, Hutchins, Philip Johnson, William Johnson, Kalbfleisch, Kernan, 
King, Law, Lazear, Le Blond, Long, Mallory, Marcy, M'AUister, 
M'Dowell, M'Kinney, William H. IVIiller, James R. Morris, Morrison, 
Noble, John O'Neill, Pendleton, Pruyn, Radford, Samuel J. Randall, 
Robinson, Rogers, James S. Rollins, Ross, Scott, John B. Steele, 
WiUiam G. Steele, Stiles, Strouse, Stuart, Sweat, Wadsworth, Ward, 
Chilton A. White, Joseph W. White, and Eernando Wood, — 65. 

Not Voting. — Messrs. William G. Brown, Clay, Henry Winter 
Davis, Thomas T. Davis, Dumont, Grinnell, Hall, Benjamin G. 
Harris, Charles M. Harris, Knapp, M'Bride, Middleton, Nelson, Perry, 
Pomeroy, William H. Randall, Edward H. Rollins, Stebbins, Voorhees, 
William B. Washburn, Winfield, Benjamin Wood, and Yeaman, — 23. 

So the joint resolution was not passed ; two-thirds 
not having voted in favor thereof. Mr. Odell (Dem.) 
of New York, Mr. Griswold (Dem.) of New York, 
Mr. Baily (Dem.) of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Wheeler 
(Dem.) of Wisconsin, voted for the joint resolution. 
Mr. Ashley (Rep.) changed his vote from the affirma- 
tive to the negative, for the purpose of submitting, at 
the proper time, a motion to reconsider. Mr. Ash- 
ley entered his motion to reconsider the vote ; and that 
motion is now the pending question in the House. 



273 



CHAPTER XIV. 

REPEAL OF FUGITIVE -SLAVE LAWS. 

MB. HOWE'S BILL. — MR. \VILM0T'S BILL. — MR. WILSON's BILL. — MR. STE- 
VEN'S'S BILL. — MR. ASHLEY'S BILL. — 3IR. JULIAN'S BILL. — SPECIAL 
COMMITTEE OX SLAVERY. — MR. SUMXER'S BILL A>T) REPORT. — MR. 
FOSTER'S SPEECH. — MR. SHERMAN'S AMENDMENT. — MR. JOHNSON'S 
SPEECH. — MR. SUMNER'S SPEECH. — MR. SAULSBURY'S AMENDMENT. 

— MR. brown's speech. — MR. HOWARD'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS 
OF MR. CONNESS. — MR. 3IORRIS'S BILL. — REMARKS OF MR. MALLORY. — 
MR. MORRIS. — MR. WILSON. — MR. PENDLETON. — MR. KING. — MR. COX. 

— MR. HUBBARD. — MR. FARNSWORTH. — PASSAGE OF MR. MORRIS'S BILL 
IN THE HOUSE. — MR. MORRIS'S BILL REPORTED BY MR. SUMNER. — 
MR. SAULSBURY'S AMENDMENT. — MR. JOHNSON'S AMENDMENT. — PAS- 
SAGE OF THE BILL. 

IN the Senate, on the 26th of December, 1861, Mr. 
Howe (Rep.) of Wisconsin introduced a bill to 
repeal the Fugitive-slave Act of 1850. In presenting 
the bill, Mr. Howe declared that " the act has had its 
day. As a party act, it has done its work. It has 
probably done as much mischief as any other one act 
that was ever passed by the National Legislature. I 
am not sure but it has done as much mischief as all 
the acts ever passed by the National Legislature since 
the adoption of the Federal Constitution." The bill was 
read twice, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, 
and reported back adversely by Mr. Ten Eyck (Rep.) 
of New Jersey, on the 11th of February, 1863. 

On the 23d of May, 1862, Mr. Wilmot (Rep.) 
of Pennsylvania introduced a bill requiring an oath of 
alleo-iance in certain cases and for other purposes. The 



274 RErEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 

bill provided, that before any person owing service shall 
be delivered up, and before any process shall be here- 
after issued for the arrest of any fugitive from service, 
the person so claiming such service shall solemnly swear 
that he will support and defend the Co^titution and 
Government of the United States against all enemies, 
domestic or foreign ; and that he has not, by word or 
deed, given aid, comfort, or encouragement to the Ee- 
bellion ; that, in all cases of arrest of persons claimed 
as fugitives from service, it shall be the duty of the 
officer before whom such fugitive shall be taken to sum- 
mon before him such witnesses as the fugitive shall, on 
oath, declare to be material to disprove any of the alle- 
gations of the claimant, or to establish his freedom ; and, 
in the examination and trial of such cases, no witness 
shall be excluded on account of color. Mr. Wilmot's 
bill was read twice, referred to the Committee on the 
District of Columbia, and reported back on the 27th 
of May by Mr. Wade (Rep.) of Ohio without amend- 
ment. 

On the 24th of May, 1862, Mr. Wilson (Rep.) of 
Massachusetts introduced a bill to amend the Fugitive- 
slave Act of 1850. The bill secured to persons claimed 
as fugitives from service or labor in one State a right to 
a trial by jury in the District Court of the United States 
for the district in which they may be ; the proceedings 
to be the same as on an indictment, subject to a writ of 
error from the Circuit Court and from the Supreme 
Court, as provided in the Judiciary Act of 1789. It 
gave to such persons held for trial the right to bail 
before and pending the trial. It required that the per- 
son claiming the service of any fugitive should prove 



REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 275 

that he was loyal to the Government, and had not in 
any manner aided the Eebellion ; and it repealed sec- 
tions six, seven, eight, nine, and ten, and part of 
section five, of the act of Sept. 18, 1850. Mr. Wil- 
son, on the 10th of June, moved to take up the bill for 
consideration. Mr. Powell (Dem.) of Kentucky de- 
manded the yeas and nays ; and they were ordered, — 
yeas 25, nays 10. So the motion was agreed to ; and 
the Senate proceeded to its consideration. Mr. Trum- 
bull (Rep.) of Illinois, remarking that the bill was a 
long one, and the hour was late, moved an adjournment ; 
which was carried. 

In the House of Representatives, after the announce- 
ment of the standing committees of the Thirty-eiglith 
Congress, on the 14th of December, 1863, the Speaker 
stated that the first business in order was the call of the 
States for bills and joint resolutions. Mr. Stevens 
(Rep.) of Pennsylvania introduced a bill to repeal the 
Fugitive-slave Act, approved Feb. 12, 1793, and the 
act amendatory thereto, approved Sept. 18, 1850; Mr. 
Ashley (Rep.) of Ohio introduced a bill to repeal the 
Fugitive-slave Act of 1850, and all acts and parts of acts 
for the rendition of fugitive slaves ; Mr. Julian (Rep.) 
of Indiana introduced a bill to repeal the third and 
fourth sections of the act respecting fugitives from jus- 
tice, and persons escaping from the service of their 
masters, approved Feb. 12, 1793, and the act to amend 
and supplementary to the aforesaid act, approved Sept. 
18, 1850 ; and these bills were referred to the Judiciary 
Committee. On the same day, Mr. Julian submitted a 
resolution, instructing the Judiciary Committee to re- 
port a bill to repeal the third and fourth sections of an 



276 KEPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 

act respecting fugitives from justice and persons escap- 
ing from the service of their masters, approved Feb. 12, 
1793 ; and the act to amend and supplementary to the 
aforesaid act, approved Sept. 18, 1850. Mr. Holman 
(Dem.) of Indiana moved to lay the resolution on the 
table, and demanded the yeas and nays, — yeas 82, 
nays 73. 

In the Senate, on the 13th of January, 1864, Mr. 
Sumner moved that a select committee of seven be ap- 
pointed to take into consideration all propositions con- 
cerning slavery and the treatment of freedmen. The 
resolution was agreed to ; and the Yice-President ap- 
pointed Mr. Sumner (Rep.) of Massachusetts, Mr. 
Howard (Rep.) of Michigan, Mr. Carlile (Dem.) of 
Virginia, Mr. Pomeroy (Rep.) of Kansas, Mr. Buck- 
alew (Dem.) of Pennsylvania, Mr. Brown (Rep.) of 
Missouri, and Mr. Conness (Union) of California. Mr. 
Sumner, Mr. Howard, Mr. Pomeroy, and Mr. Brown, 
are recognized as thorough, earnest, radical antislavery 
men ; Mr. Carlile is a proslavery man from conviction ; 
Mr. Buckalew is a fair representative of the sentiments, 
opinions, and policy of the leaders of the Northern 
Democracy ; Mr. Conness, though trained in the faith 
of the Democratic party, is an earnest and uncompro- 
mising opponent of slavery and its champions in every 
form. 

On the 8th of February, Mr. Sumner asked and 
obtained leave to introduce a bill to repeal all laws 
for the rendition of fugitive slaves ; which was read 
twice by its title, and referred to the Select Com- 
mittee on Slavery and Freedmen. Mr. Sumner, on 
the 29th of February, from the Select Committee on 



REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 277 

Slavery, reported sl bill, accompanied by a report, for 
the repeal of all acts, and parts of acts, requiring the 
rendition of fugitive slaves. The bill was read twice, 
and the report ordered to be printed. Mr. Sumner 
stated that the minority of the committee desired to 
present their views in the form of a minority report. 
jVIr. Conness moved to print ten thousand extra copies 
of the report. Mr. Buckalew, on the 1st of March, 
asked leave of the Senate to present a report from the 
minority of the Committee on the Repeal of the Fugi- 
tive-slave Acts ; and the report was received ; and, on 
motion of Mr. Powell, it was ordered to be printed. 
He also moved to print ten thousand extra copies of the 
report ; and the motion was referred to the Committee 
on Printing. Mr. Sumner's report in support of the 
bill was lengthy, elaborate, and exhaustive. The legal, 
political, and moral aspects of the question were fully 
presented. Mr. Buckalew's report discussed the ques- 
tions involved in the light of the legislation and judicial 
decisions of the Government, and the avowals of the 
public men of the past. 

On tlie 7th of March, Mr. Sumner asked the Senate 
to take up the bill, with a view to make it the special 
order for a future day. His motion was agreed to ; and 
he moved to make it the special order for the 9 th of 
March, and it was carried. On Wednesday, the 9th, 
Mr. Sumner called for the special order. jNIr. Davis of 
Kentucky expressed a desire to debate the bill ; and on 
motion of Mr. Sumner, at the suggestion of Mr. Hen- 
dricks, it was postponed to Wednesday, the 16th, and 
made the special order for one o'clock. On the 19th, 
Mr. Sumner moved that the Senate proceed to the con- 

24 



278 REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 

sideration of the bill. Mr. Trumbull demanded the 
yeas and nays, — yeas 26, nays 10; Mr. Cowan, Mr. 
Willey, and Mr. Van Winkle, voting with the Demo- 
cratic senators in the negative. The bill was reported 
to the Senate, ordered to be engrossed, and read a third 
time. Mr. Foster of Connecticut was " not prepared to 
see the bill pass just now." Mr. Sumner had " not the 
least desire to address the Senate. It seems to be per- 
fectly plain. It is like a diagram ; it is like the multipli- 
cation-table ; it is like the ten commandments." Mr. 
Foster did not apprehend that the bill was to be put on 
its passage at the present time : he confessed he ex- 
pected to say something upon it. Mr. Pomeroy thought 
" we might as well pass the bill now." Mr. Buckafew 
called for the yeas and nays, and they were ordered. 
Mr. Hendricks said, "It may be that our fathers erred 
in the agreement among themselves that a fugitive slave 
should be returned ; it may be that it was a mistake on 
their part : but while their agreement stands, and while 
my oath is upon my conscience to respect that agreement, 
I cannot vote for a bill like this." Mr. Sherman had 
" some doubt about the expediency of now repealing the 
law of 1793." Mr. Sumner said the committee felt 
" that we had better make a clean thing of it, purify the 
country, lift the country up before foreign nations, and 
let us now wash our hands of all support of slavery." 
Mr. Sherman said that "the law of 1793 was framed 
by the men who framed the Constitution. It has been 
declared to be valid and constitutional by every tribunal 
that has acted upon it." Mr. Sumner replied that "it 
was declared to be unconstitutional by the Supreme 
Court of the United States in the Prio^g case ; and the 



REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 279 

senator knows very well that it is among the records in 
the life of Judge Story, who gave the opinion in the 
Prigg case, that the fatal objection to the act of 1793, 
that it did not give a trial by jury in a case of human 
freedom, was never argued before the court, and that 
he personally considered it an open question." Mr, 
Sherman said, "Under these circumstances, I prefer not 
to repeal the law of 1793, about the constitutionality of 
which I have little doubt." Mr. Sherman then moved 
to reconsider the vote ordering the bill to be engrossed, 
for the purpose of offering an amendment ; and the vote 
was reconsidered. He then moved to add at the end 
of the bill the words, "except the act approved Feb. 
12, 1793, entitled ^An act respecting fugitives from jus- 
tice, and persons escaping from the service of their mas- 
ters.' " Mr. Henderson moved to amend the amendment 
of the senator from Ohio by repealing the act of 1850 ; 
and then the act of 1793 will certainly remain in force, 
because the act of 1850 is merely amendatory of the 
act of 1793. Mr. Sherman thought "we had better 
repeal all the laws on the subject, except the act of 
1793." Mr. Johnson said that "the Constitution as it 
is now, according to my interpretation of it, not only 
authorizes the passage of the act of 1793, and the 
passage of the act of 1850, but made it the duty of 
Congress to pass some law of that description. The 
honorable member from Massachusetts is mistaken, I 
tliink, in supposing that Mr. Justice Story ever even 
doubted the constitutionality of the act of 1793." Mr. 
Sumner would " simply refer the senator to the Life of 
Judge Story, by his son, and the elaborate chapter on 
the Priiro: decision." ISlr. Johnson had seen it. "There 



280 REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 

is," he said, " one question which is perfectly plain under 
the adjudications of the Supreme Court, and particularly 
in the judgment pronounced by Mr. Justice Story, that 
the Constitution itself is a fugitive-slave act." — "To 
my mind," said Mr. Sumner, "nothing is clearer than 
that, according to unquestionable rules of interpreta- 
tion, the clause of the Constitution, whatever may have 
been the intent of its authors, cannot be considered 
applicable to slaves. Such is slavery, that, from the 
nature of the case, it cannot be sanctioned or lecralized 
except by * positive ' words. It cannot stand on hifer- 
eyiceJ'^ The question, being taken by yeas and nays on 
Mr. Sherman's amendment, resulted — yeas 24, nays 
17 — as follows : — 

Yeas. — Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Collamer, Cowan, Davis, Dixon, 
Doolittle, Foster, Harris, Henderson, Hendricks, Howe, Johnson, Lane 
of Indiana, M'Dougall, Nesmith, Powell, Riddle, Saulsbury, Sherman, 
Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Van Winkle, and Willey, — 24. 

Nays. — Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Clark, Conness, Fessenden, 
Grimes, Hale, Howard, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Morrill, Pomeroy, 
Ramsey, Sprague, Sumner, Wilkinson, and Wilson, — 17. 

Mr. Saulsbury moved an amendment of two sections 
concerning arrests without due process of law : 9 sena- 
tors voted yea, and 27 senators voted nay. " I do 
not wish," said Mr. Conness, "to cast a vote for this 
measure in its present shape. I had intended, before 
the debate closed, if it was debated, to say something 
on the subject. I do not design that now ; and, as 
the Senate have seen fit to amend the bill, I cannot vote 
for it. At present, therefore, I move that it lie on the 
table." Mr. Sumner hoped the senator " would with- 
draw that motion." — "For what reason ?" asked Mr. 
Conness. "For the reason," replied Mr. Sumner, 



KEPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 281 

"that we get something by this bill." Mr. Wilson 
asked for the yeas and nays on the motion to lay the 
bill on the table, and they were ordered. The vote, 
being taken, resulted — yeas 9, nays 31. Mr. Powell 
moved the reference of the bill to the Judiciary Com- 
mittee. The motion was rejected. Mr. Johnson said, 
"I understand, as the bill now is, it repeals all the 
fugitive-slave acts, except that of 1793." — "Yes," an- 
swered senators. " Then I shall vote for it ; because, 
as I never would have voted for the Fugitive-slave Act 
of 1850, I shall certainly vote for its repeal." Mr. 
Foster expressed a wish to make a few remarks upon 
the bill, and the Senate adjourned. On the 20th, the 
Senate proceeded to the consideration of the bill ; and 
Mr. Foster made an elaborate speech in favor of the 
bill as amended on motion of Mr. Sherman. "I shall 
give," he said, " my vote on its passage with very great 
pleasure. Its effect will be to repeal the law of 1850, 
popularly known as the Fugitive-slave Law ; in my 
opinion a most iniquitous measure, and certainly most 
obnoxious to the people of the free States from the day 
of its passage to the present hour. That bill was 
passed in a period of great excitement in the country. 
A malicious and malignant spirit had been excited. 
Sectional and partisan feeling raged over the land. An 
arrogant and defiant party, in their pride of power, 
passed that bill through both Houses of Congress. It 
has the forms of law, and has stood unrepealed to this 
day. From the first day I had the honor of a seat in 
this body until now, I should have voted cheerfully for 
its repeal at any time." 

Mr. Brown of Missouri declared that " the amend- 

21* 



282 REPEAL OF FUGITIYE-SLAVE LAWS. 

ment of the senator from Ohio (Mr. Sherman) , which 
has been adopted by the Senate, makes this bill, as it 
now stands, tantamount to a revival of the Fugitive- 
slave Act of 1793. It is a virtual re-instating and 
re-authorization, so far as the vote of the Senate can 
go, of that act." 

Mr. Yan Winkle of West Virginia, on the 21st, 
addressed the Senate in opposition to "the series 
of projected measures now pending in one or both 
Houses of Congress," and in vindication of the policy 
of organizing the State of West Virginia, and abolishing 
slavery therein. Mr. Howard expressed a desire to offer 
an amendment. Mr. Wilson moved a reconsideration 
of the vote ordering the bill to be engrossed, to allow 
that motion to be made ; and the vote was reconsidered. 
]Mr. Howard moved to insert at the end of the bill the 
following amendment : " But no person found in any 
Territory of the United States or in the District of 
Columbia shall be deemed to have been held to labor or 
service or to be a slave, nor shall he or she be removed 
under said act of 1793 ; and the fourth section of said 
act is hereby repealed." Mr. Doolittle moved an ex- 
ecutive session. Mr. Sumner suggested that it should 
be an hour later. Mr. Brown thought we could not 
finish the bill this evening. Mr. Fessenden did not like 
to interfere with this bill, but he must "give notice to 
gentlemen, that, unless they choose to dispose of it 
this afternoon or by to-morrow at one o'clock, I must 
then move to go on with the Army-appropriation Bill." 
Mr. Sumner hoped we should go on with the bill at 
least for another hour. Mr. Conness hoped we should 
not go on with the consideration of this bill. " I do not 



REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 283 

understand the anxiety of my honorable friend from 
Massachusetts in pressing this bill in its present condi- 
tion." Mr. Pomeroy hoped the senator from Massa- 
chusetts would let the question go over : there were 
half a dozen amendments to be proposed. Mr. Sumner 
said, if the friends of the measure request that it shall not 
be pressed to-day, he would not throw himself in their 
way. Mr. Conness moved that it be postponed to, and 
made the order of the day for, Wednesday, the 27th of 
April, at one o'clock ; and the motion was agreed to ; 
and Mr. Sumner's bill was postponed, and not again 
called up for consideration. 

The several bills to repeal the Fugitive-slave Act, 
introduced on the 14th of December, 1863, by Mr. 
Stevens, Mr. Ashley, and Mr. Julian, and the bill after- 
wards introduced by Mr. Spaulding, were refeiTcd to 
the Judiciary Committee. On the 6th of June, Mr. 
Morris (Rep.) of New York reported, for the several 
bills referred to the Judiciary Committee on that subject, 
a substitute, entitled " A bill to repeal the Fugitive- 
slave Act of 1850, and all acts, and parts of acts, for the 
rendition of fugitive slaves." The bill was read twice, 
ordered to be printed, and recommitted. Mr. Holman 
(Dem.) of Indiana moved to reconsider the vote by 
which the bill was recommitted to the Committee on the 
Judiciary, and also moved to lay the motion to recon- 
sider on the table. The House divided, — ayes 26, 
noes 57 ; no quorum voting. Mr. Wilson of Iowa called 
•for the yeas and nays, and they were ordered. The 
question was taken, and it was decided in the negative, 
— yeas 44, nays QQ. The vote by which the bill was 
recommitted was then reconsidered. Mr. Morris with- 



284 REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 

drew the motion to recommit ; and the bill was ordered 
to be engrossed, and read a third time. Mr. Morris 
moved the previous question on the passage of the bill, 
and the main question was ordered. Mr. Holman called 
for the yeas and nays on its passage, and they were or- 
dered. Mr. Mallory (Dem.) of Kentucky desired to 
ask Mr. Morris a question, if he would withdraw the 
previous question. Mr. Morris declined to withdraw it. 
Mr. Mallory wished to state to the House the reason 
why he asked Mr. Morris to withdraw the previous 
question. Mr. Morris said, if the gentleman does not 
want over two minutes, I will yield to him. " Think of 
it ! " exclaimed Mr. Cox (Dem.) of Ohio : "they con- 
descend to give us two minutes to discuss the repeal of 
the Constitution." — "Kentucky is the only State," said 
Mr. Mallory, " still adhering to the Union, which has not 
abolished or taken the initiatory steps to abolish slavery. 
... I demand, as an act of justice to my State, that 
the Fugitive-slave Act be permitted to remain on the 
statute-book. ... If the Fugitive-slave Law is repealed, 
and your provost marshals and recruiting officers draft 
and recruit the slaves of Kentucky, if this policy is con- 
tinued, what need, think you, will there be to abolish 
slavery by constitutional amendment? Sir, I warn you 
against the course this Congress is pursuing. Already 
you have crushed out every feeling of love of the Union 
in the people of the revolted States ; and you are be- 
sotted if you think that acts of oppression and wrong 
can be perpetrated in the Border slave States, without 
producing estrangement and even enmity there. Ken- 
tucky has remained true to her faith pledged to the 
Government, and I warn you not to persevere in inflict- 



REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 285 

ing on her insult and outrage." Mr. Morris said he 
must decline to withdraw the call for the previous ques- 
tion. Mr. Mallory did not expect that he would yield : 
" Justice is a thing that I have long ceased to hope for 
from that side of the House." 

A series of motions designed to stave off or delay the 
passage of the bill were then made, in which Holman 
(Dem.) of Indiana, Pendleton (Dem.) of Ohio, An- 
cona (Dem.) of Pennsylvania, Strouse (Dem.) of 
Pennsylvania, Dawson (Dem.) of Pennsylvania, and 
Eldridge (Dem.) of Wisconsin, took part; but these 
motions were voted down by large majorities. Mr. 
Davis of Maryland suggested the postponement of the 
bill. Mr. Cox, by unanimous consent, appealed to Mr. 
Morris to postpone it for the present. "To what time," 
asked Mr. Morris, "does that side of the House propose 
to postpone the question, and have a vote taken upon it ?" 
Mr. Cox would refer it back to the Judiciary Committee. 
"If the other side of the House," replied Mr. Morris, 
"will consent to the designation of a particular day when 
action shall be had, I shall be inclined to postpone the 
consideration of the question." Mr. Wilson of Iowa 
said "it was the intention of the Judiciary Committee to 
allow every member of the House full time to examine it. 
I presume it will be satisfactory to the committee if a 
particular time is agreed upon for taking this vote." 
Mr. Morris renewed the inquiry, " How long a time do 
gentlemen ask for discussing this question?" Mr. 
Holman wanted such time as may be deemed reason- 
able. Mr. Mallory did not think it would be proper 
to fix any time within which this discussion must take 
place. Mr. Pendleton would not agTee to any under- 



286 REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 

standinoc with reference to a vote on this bill. Mr. 
Morris was willing to postpone the bill to Monday, the 
13th of June, and, after reasonable discussion, take the 
vote that day. Mr. Pendleton declared that there can 
be no unanimous consent in regard to taking the vote, 
but he did not object to making it a special order ; and 
the further consideration of the bill was postponed to 
Monday, the 13th of June. On that day, the bill came 
up by special order ; and Mr. Morris, who reported it, 
withdrew the previous question, and gave notice that 
he should renew the motion after the bill should have 
been debated. Mr. King (Dem.) of Missouri made 
an elaborate speech in opposition to the passage of the 
bill. " The law," he said, " now sought to be repealed, 
was passed in the discharge of a solemn duty to the 
slaveholding States, — a duty enjoined by the Constitu- 
tion, and which cannot, in my opinion, be repealed by 
Congress without a total disregard of an imperative 
obligation." Mr. Hubbard (Rep.) of Connecticut advo- 
cated the bill in a brief, earnest, and emphatic speech. 
"I make," he said, "no distinction whatever between 
the act of 1793 and the act of 1850. To-day they are 
equally obnoxious ; and, in my opinion, equally infa- 
mous. I revere the memory of the founders of the 
Republic ; but I am not so infatuated as to believe that 
the fathers would ever have passed the act of 1793 had 
slavery then been in rebellion against them. It is fit 
that American statesmen in this age of the world ; at this 
period of the great American war ; at a time when the 
Republic is smarting and bleeding, if not reeling, under 
the blows that slavery has given it ; and at a time when 
a hundred thousand black men are fighting for the flag, 



KEPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 287 

and not one against it, — it is fit that American statesmen, 
here assembled to deliberate and act upon this momen- 
tous question, should have an opportunity to record their 
votes for posterity to read." Mr. Cox next addressed 
the House in opposition to the passage of the bill in a 
sharp, pungent, partisan speech, during which he had 
a running debate with Baldwin of Massachusetts, Blaine 
of Maine, Cole of California, and Sloan of Wisconsin. 
He closed his speech by an arraignment of the sup- 
porters of the Administration. "Your Executive," he 
said, " is a usurj^er of the powers wisely distributed to 
the other departments of the Government. Here you 
sit to-day, striving to strike down the only mode where- 
by one peculiar clause of the Constitution can be carried 
out, and propose no mode as a substitute either by State 
or Federal action. Your ideas are not those of the 
higher, but of the loioer law. They do not come from 
the sources of law and light and love above. They sun- 
der all the ties of allegiance, and all the sanctions of 
faith. You are destructionists : you would tear down 
all that is valuable and sacred in the past, and build 
up nothing in their place. You are revolutionists." 
Mr. Sloan (Rep.) of Wisconsin defended his State 
for its action in regard to the Fugitive-slave Act of 
1850. Mr. Morris made a brief speech in advocacy 
of his bill. "These statutes," he said, "are repugnant 
to the sense of every good man who has not been edu- 
cated to believe that the slave code is more imperative 
than the Constitution itself. I say, sweep out a law 
which no man respects who is not a votary of human 
slavery. It is an abomination." JVIr. Farnsworth 
(Rep.) of Illinois closed the debate in a very brief 



288 REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 

speech. In reply to the attack made by Mr. Cox upon 
the Administration for the surrender, to the authorities 
of Cuba, of Arguelles, Mr. Farnsworth said, "Oh ! Mr. 
Speaker, I understand where the trouble is with that 
side of the House. The effect of the action of sending 
back this rascal to Cuba was the emancipation of eighty 
human beings: that is where the shoe pinches. All 
the trouble is, that, upon Arguelles landing in Cuba, the 
chains fell from the limbs of eighty men : that is what 
troubles my friends upon the other side of the House. 
If he had stolen money or horses, some petty crime, it 
would have been all well enough, and you would have 
heard no dissent ; but he is so infamous, his crime so 
high-handed and God-defying, that he is worthy of a 
plank in the Democratic platform, and a wail from the 
Democratic party." Mr. Morris demanded the previoa^^ 
question upon the passage of the bill ; and the r^ff^ 
question was ordered to be put. Mr. Hubbard of. 
Connecticut demanded the yeas and nays ; and they 
were ordered. The question was taken ; and it was 
decided in the affirmative, — yeas 82, nays 57. Mr. 
Morris moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill 
was passed, and to lay that motion on the table ; and 
it was agreed to. So the bill prepared by Mr. Morris, 
and reported by him from the Judiciary Committee, 
passed the House on the 13th of June. 

In the Senate, on the 21st of June, Mr. Sum- 
ner moved that the Senate proceed to the consider- 
ation of the House bill for the repeal of all laws 
for the rendition of fuo^itive slaves. Mr. Hendricks 
of Indiana opposed the motion. Mr. Howard of Michi 
gan said, " I think it is high time that the Senate of the 



REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 289 

United States should take this subject under their con- 
sideration, and should pass upon the great questions 
which have so long agitated the people of the United 
States connected with the rendition of fugitive slaves." 
Mr. Saulsbury opposed taking up the bill, as "no prac- 
tical good can result from it." Mr. Doolittle moved 
"to go into executive session." Mr. Sumner hoped 
not. " I know," he said, " of nobody who proposes to 
discuss it, unless it is the senator from Wisconsin, if he 
proposes to make a plea for slave-hunting." Mr. Davis 
of Kentucky said, "I tell the senator from Massachu- 
setts, that I have, as I said some days ago, the sequel 
of the story of slavery in his State to tell ; and I expect 
to tell it upon this bill. I have no doubt it will be very 
edifying to the honorable senator." Mr. Doolittle said 
in reply, that " when the senator from Delaware ex- 
pressly declares to the Senate that this question must 
be discussed, and shall be discussed ; that it cannot pass 
in an hour nor in a day ; and when the senator from 
Kentucky, with whom he ought certainly to be some- 
what acquainted, and to have some practical sense of 
his powers of endurance, — when he comes to discuss this 
question of repealing the Fugitive-slave Law, I think the 
honorable senator from Massachusetts does great injus- 
tice in turning upon me, and asking if I want to make 
a ^ plea for slave-hunting ; ' and that tliere will be no 
speaking, unless it is by the honorable senator from 
Wisconsin." — " The speech of the senator from Wis- 
consin," replied Mr. Sumner, "belongs to the class 
of what may be called dilatory motions, or a speech 
to sustain a dilatory motion. lie announces to us 
that there is to be an opposition to this bill, and 

25 



290 REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 

mentions several senators who menace speeches." Mr. 
Hale was against both motions, — "against taking up 
the Fugitive-slave Bill, and against going into executive 
session. There are several very important bills, relating 
to the navy, on the calendar ; and I have received urgent 
and pressing letters from the Secretary of the Navy to 
call the attention of the Senate to them." Mr. Powell 
was opposed to all the motions, and for taking up his 
bill to secure freedom of elections. He did "not see 
what good armies or navies are going to do us, if 
we have no freedom of elections^." Mr. Hale was not 
willing to go into executive session, as he was not ready 
to proceed to the consideration of the unfinished busi- 
ness under consideration in executive session when we 
adjourned. Mr. Wilson said, " We have but very little 
business in executive session to attend to, and I hope 
we shall take up the measure indicated by my col- 
lea<me." The motion to ^o into executive session was 
lost. Mr. Conness called for the yeas and nays on Mr. 
Sumner's motion to take up the House bill to repeal 
the fugitive-slave acts ; and they were ordered, — yeas 
25, nays 17. The bill was taken up for consideration, 
and the Senate took a recess until evening. 

On the 22d, Mr. Sumner moved to proceed to the 
consideration of the bill of the House to repeal the 
fugitive-slave acts. Mr. Hale opposed the motion, as 
he desired to take up some naval bills ; and demanded 
the yeas and nays : and Mr. Sumner's motion was lost, 
— yeas 14, nays 22. At the evening session, Mr. 
Sumner moved to take up the House bill to repeal the 
fugitive-slave acts. Mr. Chandler said, " I will spend 
the night with great pleasure with the senator from 



REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 291 

Massachusetts on his bill ; but to-morrow I shall de- 
mand the day for the Committee on Commerce." Mr. 
Saulsbury would adjourn : he wanted a day with- 
out the " nigger." The motion to adjourn was lost, — 
yeas 8, nays 28. On Mr. Sumner's motion to take up 
the bill, the yeas were 26, and the nays 12. Mr. Lane 
of Indiana moved that the Senate proceed to the con- 
sideration of executive business, — yeas 16, nays 19. 
Mr. Saulsbury moved to postpone the bill indefinitely ; 
and the question, being taken by yeas and nays, result- 
ed — yeas 11, nays 25. Mr. Sherman was willing to 
give to Mr. Davis from Kentucky, who was absent, a 
right to be heard, as he desired to speak on the bill ; but 
if senators " propose to resort to parliamentary tactics for 
delay, merely to defeat a vote upon the bill, which the 
majority have a right to pass, I am perfectly willing to go 
into a contest of physical endurance." — "I am governed 
entirely," said Mr. Johnson, " by the wishes of tl 
senator from Kentucky, who desires an opportunity t 
be heard." Mr. Willey was one of those who had 
voted against taking up this bill. "I did so," he said, 
" simply because I was told by the friends of the 
senator from Kentucky that he desired to be heard. 
If a majority of the Senate say that this matter is to 
be pressed to-night, I will yield at once." Mr. Sum- 
ner would meet senators half-way. "I propose that 
we shall go on to-night, and perfect the bill, but sus- 
pend taking the vote on its final passage, in order to 
give the senator from Kentucky an opportunity of 
being heard." Mr. Powell accepted Mr. Sumner's 
proposition, and withdrew his motion to postpone tho 
further consideration of the bill till the first Monday 



'm 



o: 

m 



292 REPEAL OF FUGITIVE-SLAVE LAWS. 

of December next ; and it was reported to the Senate 
without amendment. 

On the 23d of June, the bill was again taken up ; 
and Mr. Davis of Kentucky addressed the Senate in 
opposition to its passage. Mr. Saulsbury moved to 
strike out all after the enacting clause, and to insert the 
words of the Constitution concerning fugitives, "and 
that Congress shall pass all necessary laws for the ren- 
dition of all persons who shall escape." He demanded 
the yeas and nays; and they were ordered, — yeas 9, 
nays 29. Mr. Johnson moved to strike out after the 
word "that," in the third line, the following words: 
" Sections three and four of an act entitled ' An act re- 
specting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping 
from the service of their masters, passed Feb. 12, 1793.'" 
Mr. Wilson asked for the yeas and nays ; and they were 
ordered. Mr. M'Dougall said, " I am governed by the 
Constitution of the United States, and the laws passed 
nder the Constitution ; and I shall govern myself 
accordingly in my votes." The question, being taken 
by yeas and nays, resulted — yeas 17, nays 22. Mr. 
Saulsbury demanded the yeas and nays on the passage 
of the bill ; and they were ordered, — yeas 27, nays 12, 
as follows : — 

Yeas. — Messrs. Anthony, Brown, Chandler, Clark, Conness, Dixon, 
Fessenden, Foot, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Harris, Hicks, Howard, Howe, 
Lane of Indiana, Lane of Kansas, Morgan, Morrill, Pomeroy, Ramsey, 
Sprague, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, and Wilson, — 27. 

Nats. — Messrs. Buckalew, Carlile, Cowan, Davis, Johnson, M'Dou- 
gall, Powell, Richardson, Riddle, Saulsbury, Van Winkle, and Willey, 
— 12. 

So Mr. Morris's bill repealing the fugitive-slave acts 
passed the Senate on the 23d, and received the approval 
of the President on the 28th, of June, 1864. 



293 



CHAPTER XY. 

PAY OP COLORED SOLDIERS. 

MR. WILSON'S BILL. — MR. GRIMES'S AMENDMENT. — MR. WILSON'S JOINT 
RESOLUTION. — MR. CONNESS'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. FES- 
SENDEN. — MR. WILSON. — MR. FOSTER. — MR. SUMNER. — MR. JOHN- 
SON. — 3IR. GRIMES. — MR. HOWE. — MR. WILSON. — MR. GRIMES. — MR. 
COWAN'S AMENDMENT. — MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — MR. WILSON'S 
AMENDMENT. — MR. DOOLITTLE'S AMENDMENT. — MR. SUMNER'S AMEND- 
MENT TO MR. cowan's amendment. — MR. WILSON'S AMENDMENT. — 
REMARKS OF MR. CLARK. — MR. DAVIS'S AMENDMENT. — MR. COLLA- 
MER'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. FOOT. — MR. SUMNER'S AMEND- 
MENT. — REMARKS OF MR. WILKINSON. — MR. WILSON. — MR. HOWARD. 
— MR. JOHNSON. — MR. FESSENDEN. — MR. WILSON'S BILL. — MR. DA- 
VIS'S AMENDMENT. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. — MR. WILSON'S AMEND- 
MENT TO THE ARMY APPROPRIATION BILL. — MR. STEVENS'S AMEND- 
MENT. — REMARKS OF MR. HOLMAN. — MR. PRICE. — MR. HOLMAN'S 
AMENDMENT. — CONFERENCE COMMITTEES. — REPORT ACCEPTED. 

IN the Senate, on the 8th of January, 1864, Mr. 
Wilson (Rep.) of Massachusetts introduced a bill 
to promote enlistments. It was read twice, referred to 
the Committee on Military Affairs, and reported back 
on the 18th with amendments. On the 21st, the 
Senate, on motion of Mr. Wilson, proceeded to its con- 
sideration. The second section provided tliat all persons 
of African descent, who have been or may be mustered 
into the military service of the United States, shall re- 
ceive the same uniform, clothing, arms, equipments, 
camp-equipage, rations, medical and hospital attendance, 
pay and emoluments, as other soldiers of the regular or 
volunteer forces of the like arm of the service ; and that 

25* 



294 PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 

every such person hereafter mustered into service shall 
receive two months' pay in advance. IVIr. Grimes 
asked if bounties were given to colored soldiers by 
the bill. Mr. Wilson replied, that bounties were not 
given, but that two months' pay in advance was given. 
Mr. Pomeroy (Rep.) of Kansas desired to know if there 
was any law allowing the master of a slave compensa- 
ion for the services of the slave. Mr. Wilson replied, 
that there was no law authorizing the War Department 
to allow compensation for slaves, other than the general 
authority to use the commutation-money to obtain sub- 
stitutes. 

On the 27th of January, on motion of Mr. Wilson, 
^the Senate took up the bill to promote enlistments ; and 
Mr. Grimes moved to amend the second section by 
striking out the words, "two months' pay in advance," 
and inserting, " such sums in bounty as the President 
shall order, in different States, and parts of States, not 
exceedinof a hundred dollars ; " and the amendment was 
agreed to. 

On the 3d of February, Mr. Wilson, from the Com- 
mittee on Military Affairs, reported a joint resolution 
to equalize the pay of colored soldiers. It provided 
that all persons of color, who have been or may be mus- 
tered into the military service of the United States, shall 
receive the same uniform, clothing, arms, equipments, 
camp -equipage, rations, medical and hospital attend- 
ance, pay and emoluments other than bounty, as other 
soldiers of the regular or volunteer forces of the United 
States of like arm of service, during the whole term in 
which they shall be or shall have been in such service ; 
and every person of color who shall hereafter be mustered 



PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 295 

into the service is to receive such sums in bounty as the 
President shall order, in the different States and parts 
of the United States, not exceeding a hundred dollars. 
The Senate, on the 4th, proceeded to the consideration 
of the joint resolution. Mr. Fessenden (Rep.) of 
Maine wished " to inquire w^hat propriety there is in our 
going back, and paying them this increase for services 
already rendered." Mr. Wilson thought, " as an act of 
justice, the bill should be retrospective. Gross injus- 
tice has been done towards these men, and it ous"ht to 
be corrected." Mr. Ten Eyck (Rep.) of New Jersey 
thought " the withholding of the full pay to men who 
were led to believe they would receive the same pay as 
other soldiers has occasioned great dissatisfaction, not 
only in the minds of those troops, but of all their friends 
at home." ]\ir. Lane (Rep.) of Kansas hoped "the 
joint resolution would be retrospective." Mr. Fessen- 
den was in favor, and had ever been in favor, of putting 
colored soldiers on a level with white ones ; but he was 
opposed to paying men for services already rendered, 
unless the men were promised full pay by orders 
emanating from the War Department. Mr. Conness 
(Union) from California moved to strike out the words, 
" during the whole time in which they shall be or .shall 
have been in such service," and insert, "from and after 
the passage of this act." Mr. Lane hoped the amend- 
ment would not be adopted : " The senator from Cali- 
fornia should not attempt to perpetrate such an outrage 
upon a gallant regiment of his State." Mr. Conness 
was in favor of equality of compensation in the future ; 
but " neither the condition of the treasury, nor the 
public credit, can afford ' these acts of justice,' as they 



296 PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 

are termed." Mr. Pomeroy (Rep.) of Kansas thought 
we should give colored soldiers the precise pay, and 
place them in precisely the same position, as white sol- 
diers. Mr. Doolittle (Rep.) of Wisconsin said, "If the 
Government has in good faith made a promise to sol- 
diers who have enlisted in any particular regiment, 
whether in Massachusetts or any^vhere else, that prom- 
ise ought to be kept." He thought there were differ- 
ences in the condition of colored troops in the States. 
In the Northern States, they were in the same condition 
as the white soldiers ; but, in the Southern States, the 
Government was doing much to support their wives 
and children, and some account should be made of this 
expenditure. "I wish," said Mr. Sumner, "to see our 
colored troops treated like white troops in every respect. 
But I would not press this first principle by any re- 
tro-active proposition, unless where the faith of the 
Government is committed ; and there I would not hesi- 
tate. The treasury can bear any additional burden 
better than the country can bear to do an injustice." 
On the 10th, the Senate resumed the consideration of 
the joint resolution equalizing the pay of soldiers. Mr. 
Foster (Rep.) thought, "If it is just to do this, it is 
certainly expedient ; for justice is always the highest 
expediency." He thought justice required that we carry 
out the pledges of the Government or of public officers ; 
" but justice especially requires it when we consider that 
we are dealing with men, a great portion of whom, as I 
have suggested, were never taught to read, and never 
could, therefore, know what the written law ©rthe coun- 
try was." Mr. Sumner quoted the order of the Secre- 
tary of War to Governor Andrew of Massachusetts, 



PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 297 

and maintained that it was issued under the law of 
1861, not the act of 1862. Mr. Fessenden could not 
concur in Mr. Sumner's construction of the act of 1862. 
Mr. Lane (Rep.) of Indiana thought, "If we place 
colored troops hereafter on an equality with the white 
troops, it is surely as much as they can ask, either from 
the justice or the generosity of this Senate ; for no man 
in his sober senses will say that their services are worth 
as much, or that they are as good soldiers." Mr. Wilson 
said, "A colonel of a colored regiment stated to me, the 
other night, that his regiment made a march of forty- 
three miles in the late expedition to North Carolina, 
without one straggler ; that he had seen but one case 
of drunkenness in his reiriment for six months. All 
the testimony of our officers who took these troops 
with prejudices against them goes to show that they 
are industrious ; that they are obedient ; that they are 
deferential in their manners ; that they make the best 
kind of scouts ; that they know the country well ; that 
they are performing their duty with a zeal and an ear- 
nestness unsurpassed. There is a reason for this. Take 
a colored man who has been degraded by popular preju- 
dice, or by law, or in any other way, put the uniform 
of the United States upon him, and let him follow the 
flag of the country, and he feels proud and elevated. 
They are fighting for the elevation of their race, as well 
as for our country and our cause, and for tlie emancipa- 
tion of their race ; and well may they perform that duty." 
Mr. Sumner said, "I hope the senator from Indiana 
will pardon me if I refer to him for one minute. He 
is so uniformly generous and just, that I was the more 
surprised when I Hstened to his remarks just now. I 



298 PAY OF COLOEED SOLDIERS. 

was surprised at his lack of generosity and his lack of 
justice — he will pardon me — toward these colored 
soldiers. I was surprised — he will pardon me — at 
his injustice to the State of Massachusetts. He spoke 
disparagingly of the colored soldiers. He thought they 
had been paid enough. He thought that the gallant 
blood shed on the parapets of Fort Wagner had been 
paid enough; and he failed to see that those men who died 
for us on that bloody night, and were buried in the same 
grave with their colonel who led them, now stood alive 
in this presence to plead for the equality of their race." 
The Senate, on the 13th, resumed the consideration 
of the joint resolution ; and Mr. Conness withdrew his 
amendment to strike out the retrospective clause. Mr. 
Sumner oiFered an amendment, that in regard to all past 
services, if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the 
Secretary of War that the persons were led to sup- 
pose they were mustered into the service under the 
act of July 22, 1861, they shall receive full pay. Mr. 
Anthony thought the amendment did not cover the 
case. "I think there were a number of these men 
— I know it was so in my State — who were led to 
suppose that they would have the same pay as the 
white soldiers as soon as Congress assembled ; that the 
manifest injustice of paying white soldiers one price, and 
colored soldiers another price, would be at once cor- 
rected." — "In my view," said Mr. Johnson, "there is 
no obligation, either legal or moral, upon the Govern- 
ment to pay these men more than the law entitles them 
to." Mr. Grimes thought " this matter is being com- 
promised by attempting to cover some individual cases 
in a general law. I think, however, that the Chairman 



PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 299 

of the Committee on Military Affairs had better not 
involve this bill with any reference to the Massachusetts 
regiments or to the Rhode-Island men who have been 
enlisted, or to the South-Carolina regiments." ]Mr. 
Howe rose " to assent to the advice given by the sena- 
tor from Iowa : it is eminently sensible." — " It is evi- 
dent," said Mr. Wilson, " after what has been said here 
this morning, that this joint resolution is delayed by the 
attempt to do justice to some ten or fifteen or twenty 
regiments to whom this promise was made. I think 
the amendment proposed by my colleague would not 
apply to more than fifteen or twenty regiments at most, 
and it would be at the discretion of the Secretary of 
War. I should be perfectly willing to trust it in his 
hands. But, as I see that I cannot get the resolution 
through promptly in its present shape, I propose to 
amend it by striking out that portion which makes it 
retrospective, — by striking out all after the word ^ser- 
vice ' in the ninth line, down to the word ' and ' in the 
tenth line, and inserting 'from the first day of January, 
1864;' so that it will read, *As other soldiers of the 
regular or volunteer forces of the United States of like 
arm of the service, from and after the first day of Janu- 
ary, 1864." Mr. Johnson thought, "If the Governor of 
Massachusetts has made a promise which the law did 
not authorize ; if he has created, as between the ]\Iassa- 
chusetts soldiers and the Governor of Massachusetts, an 
obligation which ought to be redeemed, let Massachu- 
setts redeem it." — "They have passed," said Mr. 
Fessenden, " a law to redeem it ; but these regiments 
refuse to receive it of Massachusetts." Mr. Wilson 
explained the action of the State, and the position of 



300 PAY OF COLOEED SOLDIEKS. 

the colored regiments in declining to receive the money 
of Massachusetts. " They enlisted under the expecta- 
tion of receiving the same pay as other troops, and they 
hold the Government to its pledges." Mr. Johnson, in 
reply, said, " They are gentlemen of most extraordinary 
sensibility." — "They will not receive," said Mr. Colla- 
mer, " the three dollars from the State, or the ten dollars 
from the United States." — "I will say," replied Mr. 
Johnson, " if they are made up of that material, they 
will not be as good soldiers as we hope the others will 
be." — "They have made their record on that point," 
replied Mr. Wilson. "I sympathize," said Mr. Grimes, 
"a great deal with those gallant and patriotic noble 
young men who have gone out in command of the 
Massachusetts fifty-fourth and fifty-fifth regiments, and 
who are in command of the first and second South-Caro- 
lina regiments. I know a great many of them. I know 
them to be gallant and patriotic young men. But I 
cannot help thinking that they have involved us un- 
necessarily in trouble in connection with this subject ; 
for I know perfectly well that it was through their 
persuasions that these colored troops in South Carolina 
declined to receive the money that Massachusetts voted 
to pay them." Mr. Cowan (Rep.) would vote to equal- 
ize the pay, but was opposed to retrospective legislation 
in this case. Mr. Collamer thought Mr. Sumner's 
amendment did " not reach the case at all. It puts the 
question of paying these men back to the time of their 
enlistment, upon whether they were led to believe or 
did believe that they were to receive thirteen dollars 
a month. I do not think it makes any diflference what 
they were led to believe or did believe. It is not to be 



PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 301 

put upon any contingency of that kind. There is the 
written enlistment ; and it speaks for itself." The 
amendment was lost. 

Mr. Wilson then moved to strike out the words, 
"during the whole time in which they shall be or 
shall have been in such sendee, " and to insert in 
lieu thereof, " from and after the first day of January, 
1864." The amendment was agreed to. Mr. Doo- 
little moved to amend by reserving out of the pay 
of colored soldiers from the States in rebellion four 
dollars per month to reimburse the Government for 
expenses incurred in feeding and clothing women and 
children of color in those States. Mr. Conness opposed 
the amendment. Mr. Sherman thought it not only just, 
but in accordance with the practice of the Government. 
Mr. Grimes objected to this amendment. "Is it just," 
he inquired, "to take four dollars from the pay of a 
man who has no wife, and put it into a common fund?" 
Mr. Wilson believed that the women and children, being 
accustomed to outdoor work, instead of being a burden 
to the Government, are a benefit to it. j\Ir. Lane of 
Kansas believed that " the families of the colored sol- 
diers are self-sustainins; machines almost from the 
moment they enter our lines. I hope," he said, "that 
this amendment will not receive a single vote in this 
Chamber ; for it is a discrimination between the soldiers 
of the army of the United States, and an invitation to 
Jeff". Davis to persist in his brutal treatment of our 
gallant troops." Mr. Doolittle's amendment was reject- 
ed. Mr. Cowan moved to strike out all after the enact- 
ing clause, and insert, " That, from and after the passage 
of this resolution, the soldiers of the United States of 

26 



,302 PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 

America, of the same grade and service, shall be entitled 
to the same pay, rations, and pension. Mr. Sumner 
moved to amend the original bill by adding as a proviso : 
^^ Provided, that in all cases of past service, where it 
shall appear to the satisfaction of the Secretary of War, 
by the actual papers of enlistment, that such persons 
were enlisted as volunteers under the act of July, 1861, 
the pay promised by that act shall be allowed from the 
commencement of such service." The question, being 
taken by yeas and nays, resulted — yeas 16, nays 21. 
Mr. Cowan earnestly advocated his amendment. He 
was in favor of " treating the negro precisely the same 
as any other man. He was a citizen of the United 
States. When I say that the negro is a citizen, I do 
not mean to say that he is equal to the white man." 
Mr. Saulsbury rose to enter his "protest against the 
constitutional views of the senator from Pennsylvania." 
He objected to the words " colored soldiers " and 
" colored persons." They used the word " negro " in his 
State. " Now, lo and behold, in the advancement of 
civilization and Christianity and refinement of which we 
hear so much, the negro has got to be a ^ colored per- 
son ; ' and, when you come to provide for calling him 
into the public service, there must be perfect equality ! " 
On motion of Mr. Wilson, the Senate resumed, on 
the 16th, the consideration of the joint resolution. 
Mr. Wilson moved to amend Mr. Cowan's amendment 
by striking out all after the word " that," and inserting, 
^Trom and after the passage of this resolution, the 
soldiers of the United States of America, of the same 
grade and service, shall be entitled to the same pay, 
rations, and pension." Mr. Davis then gave notice 



PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 303 

tBat he would move to amend Mr. Cowan's substitute. 
He addressed the Senate for two days in denunciation 
of the policy of the Government, and in reviewing the 
history and criticising the action of Massachusetts. 

On the 23d, the Senate resumed the consideration 
of the joint resolution ; the pending question being on 
Mr. Wilson's amendment to iVIr. Cowan's substitute for 
the original resolution. Mr. Wilson modified his 
amendment : the vote was taken upon it, and it was 
lost. Mr. Davis moved three resolutions as an amend- 
ment in the nature of a substitute to Mr. Cowan's 
amendment. The amendment proposed that all negroes 
and mulattoes — by whatever term designated — in the 
military service of the United States, be, and the same 
are hereby, declared to be discharged from such service, 
and shall be disarmed as soon as practicable. Mr. 
Conness demanded the yeas and nays, and they were 
ordered. Mr. Clark opposed this proposition to dis- 
band thousands of soldiers. " I want," said Mr. Clark, 
"the black man to have arms in his hands. I glory in 
the opportunity of putting arms in his hands, that, when 
he puts down the Rebellion, he may put do^yn for ever 
the institution which has enslaved him. I hail in it the 
safety of the black man. I glory in his elevation : and 
I say here to the senator from Kentucky, — and I say 
it unhesitatingly, — that, when you have put arms in 
the hands of the black man, you cannot enslave him ; 
and therefore I would give him arms. I would make 
his arms his protection. I would teach him to respect 
himself as a man, and to feel that he is respected, and 
his rights preserved. . . . When the negro was brought 
into the service of the country, he vindicated himself; 



304 PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 

he showed that he could make a good soldier ; he 
showed that he could make a good fighter ; he showed 
that he could make a good marcher ; he showed that 
he was obedient to discipline ; he showed, that, in 
some cases, he could endure more than the white man, 
and was equally loyal and ready to fight. Then, if the 
black man makes a good soldier ; if he goes readily to 
the fight ; if he stands up firmly and bravely, and gives 
his blood and his life to the country, — I ask. Why 
should he not be paid ? Can anybody tell me ? " The 
vote was taken on Mr. Davis's amendment, — yeas 7, 
nays 30. 

Mr. Collamer proposed to amend the original joint 
resolution by adding to it, "All persons enlisted into the 
service as volunteers under the call dated Oct. 17, 1863, 
who were at the time of enlistment actually, and for six 
months previous had been, resident inhabitants of the 
State in which they volunteered, shall receive from 
the United States the same amount of bounty, without 
regard to color ; provided, however, that the forego- 
in o- provision shall not extend to any State which the 
President by proclamation has declared in a state of 
insurrection." Mr. Foot earnestly and eloquently advo- 
cated this amendment. The War Department, after the 
call of October for three hundred thousand men, offered 
a bounty, to all accepted volunteers, of $300. " This is 
simply," he said, "a proposition to redeem that prom- 
ise, — a promise published and proclaimed everywhere 
throughout the country ; in every nook and corner of 
the country, at the threshold of every hamlet in the 
country, — a promise everywhere and by everybody un- 
derstood as applying to and embracing all accepted vol- 



PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 305 

unteers, witliout exception of class or color, — a promise 
everywhere and by everybody so interpreted and so 
relied upon, and so acted upon.''' Mr. Sumner moved 
to amend Mr. Collamer's amendment by adding, '* tliat 
all persons whose papers of enlistment shall show that 
they were enlisted under the act of Congi-ess of July, 
1861, shall receive, from the time of their enlistment, 
the pay promised by that statute," — yeas 19, nays 18. 
Mr. Wilson moved to amend Mr. Collamer's amend- 
ment by adding the w^ord "free" after the word "all," for 
the reason that all slaves are now provided for by law. 
Mr. Wilkinson earnestly opposed this amendment, and 
severely criticised the provisions of the Enrolment Act 
for drafting and enlisting slaves. "I am willing," said 
Mr. Wilson in reply, " that he shall denounce that mea- 
sure. That act says to every slave in the loyal States, 
* Enroll your name among the defenders of tlie Repub- 
lic ; and, the hour you are mustered into our armies, you 
are a free man for evermore.' The Government of the 
United States by that act, for the first time in our his- 
tory, has declared tens of thousands of slaves in tlie 
loyal States free, upon their own will to become free. 
It is incomparably the greatest emancipation measure 
that was ever passed by the Congress of the United 
States ; and I would rather have my name to that bill, 
which asserts the power of this nation to emancipate 
every slave in the country who will enroll his name 
among the defenders of the Union, than to any measure 
for which my name stands recorded in favor of tlie free- 
dom of mankind. Sir, I glory in the vote, and I glory 
in that measure." ^Ir. Howard eloquently defended 
his vote against that portion of the Enrolment Act re- 

2G* 



306 PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 

latino^ to musterlns: slaves into the service. " You call 
him to aid you in your wars," he said : " your necessities 
remit him to the condition in which Nature herself 
placed him. The hand of robbery becomes palsied. 
Freedom, his birthright, accrues to him as a responsible 
being ; and he again enjoys what w^as not yours to 
give, and which human force and crime have withheld. 
The Almighty, not you, restores to him the gift of liber- 
ty. He owes you nothing for it ; not even gratitude." 
— "The senator from Michigan," said Mr. Johnson, 
" seems to think that nothing has been gained by 
the slave. Nothins: ! What was his condition be- 
fore? That of a slave, — slavery for himself and 
his posterity for ever. What do we tell him? Come 
into the service of the United States, and you shall be 
free, you and yours ; the shackles that have bound 
your limbs shall fall from them ; you shall stand erect 
in the presence of your Maker, as free as any white 
man who treads the soil. Is that nothing?" 

Mr. Fessenden addressed the Senate, on the 29th, in 
explanation of his sentiments and opinions. He had, 
from the beginning, been in favor of placing colored 
soldiers on the same footing as white soldiers. " Pass," 
he said, " the bill, and settle the principle as it ought to 
be settled ; place the colored troops on the same level 
with the white troops in all cases ; let them receive the 
same pay and rations, and every thing else." Mr. 
Grimes moved to recommit the joint resolution to the 
Military Committee ; and the motion was agreed to. 

On the 2d of March, Mr. Wilson reported a new 
bill, in lieu of the original joint resolution to equalize 
the pay of soldiers. The first section placed colored 



PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 307 

soldiers on an equality with white soldiers from the 
1st of January, 1864 ; the second section gave the 
same bounties to colored volunteers in the loyal States, 
under the call of October, 1863 ; the third section 
gave to all persons of color, who have been enlisted 
and mustered into the service of the United States, the 
pay allowed by law to other volunteers in tlie service, 
from the date of their muster, if it has been pledged 
or promised to them by any officer or person, who, In 
making such pledge or promise, acted by authority of 
the War Department ; and the Secretary of War is to 
determine any question of fact arising under this pro- 
vision. Mr. Davis moved to amend the bill by addlnf>- 
a section to give to loyal owners of slaves such compen- 
sation as should be determined by commissioners ap- 
pointed by the Circuit Court. On the 9th, Mr. Davis 
spoke at great length upon matters pertaining to 
slavery : his amendment was rejected on the 10th, — 
yeas 6, nays 31. Mr. Davis then demanded the yeas 
and nays on the passage of the bill, — yeas 31, nays 6. 
So the joint resolution passed the Senate. 

On the 22d of April, Mr. Wilson moved to amend 
the Army-appropriation Bill by adding as an amend- 
ment the bill, which passed the Senate on the 10th of 
March, to equalize the pay of soldiers in the army. In 
support of his amendment, he said, " The failure of Con- 
gress to increase the pay of colored soldiers is not only 
checking enlistments, but disastrously affecting the men 
in the field. Sir, can we, dare we, hope for the blessing 
of Heaven upon our cause, while we perpetrate these 
wronofs, or suffer them to remain unredressed? Can we 
demand that the rebels shall give to our colored soldiers 



308 PAY or COLORED SOLDIERS. 

the rio-hts of civilized warfare, while we refuse to them 
equality of rights? Can we redress the brutal and 
bloody butchery at Fort Pillow, while we continue this 
injustice? Sir, the whole country is horrified at the 
barbarities perpetrated by the rebels upon our colored 
soldiers. The civilized world will be shocked as it reads 
of the bloody butchery at Fort Pillow. Sir, I feel 
that the nation is doing a wrong to the colored soldiers 
hardly less wicked than the wrongs perpetrated upon 
them by slaveholding traitors." Mr. Fessenden thought 
the measure ought to be passed, and passed at once. 
If the Senate would waive the objection to put it on the 
Appropriation Bill, he would not object to it. The 
amendment was agreed to, — yeas 32, nays 6. 

In the House, on the 30th of April, Mr. Stevens 
(Rep.) of Pennsylvania asked leave to report from the 
Committee of Ways and Means the Senate amendments 
to the Army-appropriation Bill. Mr. Holman (Dem.) 
of Indiana opposed the amendment equalizing the pay 
of soldiers. " I protest against it," he said, " as but a 
part of your general policy, which seeks by the force of 
power to extinguish every vestige of the old Republic 
of our fathers, wild, reckless, impracticable. I protest 
aofainst it in the name of a distracted and bleedins^ 
country, which, struggling with defiant treason, and 
demanding prudence and patriotism in the conduct of its 
affairs, and the noblest incentives to constancy and cou- 
rage, receives at your hands only the paralyzing coun- 
sels of fanaticism and passion." Mr. Price (Rep.) of 
Iowa said, "Gen. Jackson, in his day, knew something 
of the value of negro soldiers as well as white soldiers ; 
and he placed them upon an equality as to pay and 



PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 309 

rations." — "I despise the principle," said Mr. Stevens, 
" that would make a diiFerence between them in the hour 
of battle and of death. The idea that we are to keep 
up that distinction is abhorrent to the feelings of the age, 
is abhorrent to the feelings of humanity, is shocking to 
every decent instinct of our nature ; and I take it that no 
man who is not wedded to the institution of slavery, or 
does not foster it for the sake of power, will go with the 
gentleman from Indiana." Mr. Holman moved to strike 
out the word " pay," — yeas 52, nays 84. Mr. Sclienck 
(E,ep.) of Ohio moved to amend the Senate amendment: 
lost, — ayes 58, noes 65. The Senate amendment 
equalizing the pay of soldiers was agreed to, — yeas 80, 
nays 49. Mr. Schenck moved to amend that portion 
of the Senate amendment giving to colored volunteers 
the same bounties allowed to white volunteers under the 
call of October, 1863 ; so that the bounty should not 
exceed a hundred dollars, — yeas 78, nays 51. Mr. 
Stevens moved to strike out the section of the Senate 
amendment authorizing the Secretary of War, on proof, 
to allow full pay to volunteers who were promised it, 
and to insert that all free persons of color shall receive 
the same pay as other soldiers, — yeas 73, nays 54. 

The Senate, on the 3d of May, disagreed to the 
House amendments, asked a Committee of Conference ; 
and the Chair appointed Mr. Fessenden, Mr. Wilson, 
and Mr. Henderson, conferrees. The House insisted on 
its amendments ; and the Speaker appointed Mr. Ste- 
vens, Mr. Schenck, and Mr. Morrison, conferrees on the 
part of the House. The Conference Committee were 
unable to agree. A second Conference Committee was 
appointed, and the Conference Committee's report was 



310 PAY OF COLOKED SOLDIERS. 

rejected by the House on the 26th of May ; and the 
House appointed Mr. Stevens, Mr. Pendleton, and Mr. 
Davis of New York, conferrees, and asked another con- 
ference. The Senate, on the 27th, agreed to another 
Conference Committee; and Mr. Howe, Mr. Morrill, and 
Mr. Buckalew, were appointed conferrees. On the 10th 
of June, the committees reported that the House recede 
from its amendment reducing the bounty of volunteers 
enlisted under the call of October, 1863, from three hun- 
dred doUars to one hundred dollars ; and that " all persons 
of color who were free on the nineteenth day of April, 
1861, and who have been enlisted and mustered into the 
military service of the United States, shall from the time 
of their enlistment be entitled to receive the pay, bounty, 
and clothing allowed to such persons by the laws exist- 
ing at the time of their enlistment. And the Attorney- 
General of the United States is hereby authorized to 
determine any question of law arising under this pro- 
vision ; and if the Attorney -General aforesaid shall 
determine that any of such enlisted persons are entitled 
to receive any pay, bounty, or clothing, in addition to 
what they have already received, the Secretary of War 
shall make all necessary regulations to enable the pay 
department to make payment in accordance with such 
determination." Mr. Pendleton refused to sign the 
report. Mr. Sumner desired to know in what condition 
the report left the colored troops enlisted in South Caro- 
lina. Mr. Howe, Chairman of the Conference Commit- 
tee replied, that it made no provision for them, unless 
they were free at the breaking-out of the war. Mr. 
Sumner, as a senator from Massachusetts, might be 
content, as the regiments from his State were cared for; 



PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 311 

hut he was Interested in the adjustment, on principles of 
justice, of colored troops froyi other States. Mr. Wilson 
said there was no doubt that the South-Carolina reo"i- 
raents ought to have full pay, and it was wrong to 
quibble about it : to limit the provision to men who 
were free in 1861 leaves out the men who were slaves 
then, and who ought to have justice done them. ^Ir. 
Pomeroy thought injustice was done to regiments from 
his State. Mr. Conness opposed the report as an '^ un- 
just discrimination." Mr. Howe explained and defended 
the report. Mr. Sumner said, " The last chapter of 
'Rasselas ' is entitled, ^ A conclusion in which nothing is 
concluded ; ' and I think that title may be properly given 
to the report of this committee." — "The report of the 
committee," said Mr. Johnson, "really does settle no- 
thing ; and it is not intended to settle any thing, except 
contingently." ISIr. Fessenden appealed to senators to 
concur in the adoption of the report. "I shall," said 
Mr. Wilson, "run the risk of it, for the reason that the 
bill, as it now stands, settles the question of equality from 
the 1st of January last ; and, in the next place, it settles 
the question of bounty to colored men who are liable to 
be drafted in the loyal States, and it puts their matter in 
the control of the Attorney-General, whose opinion, I 
think, cannot be any thing else than that these men have 
the right which they claim." IVIr. Henderson was un- 
willing to pay colored troops more than they agreed to 
receive when they enlisted. 

On the 11th, Mr. Wilson moved to take up for con- 
sideration the report of the Conference Committee. 
Mr. Sumner did not think the report creditable to Con- 
gress; and he concurred in its acceptance with reluctance. 



312 PAY OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 

"It is," he said, "in the full confidence that in this way 
we shall at last, through .the opinion of the Attorney- 
General, obtain that justice which Congress has denied, 
that I consent to give my vote for this report." The 
report was accepted by the Senate. In the House, 
the report was accepted on the 13th, — yeas 71, nays 
58. By the provisions of this legislation, colored troops 
were in all respects placed on the same footing as white 
troops from the 1st of January, 1864. Colored vol- 
unteers in the loyal States, under the call of the 17th of 
October, 1863, were allowed the same bounty as white 
volunteers ; all colored soldiers free on the 19th of 
April, 1861, were to receive full pay ; and the Attorney- 
General was authorized to decide whether colored men 
not free on the 19th of April were entitled to the same 
pay as white soldiers. The Attorney-General has finally 
decided that colored soldiers are in all respects entitled 
to the same compensation as white soldiers. 



313 



CHAPTER XVI. 

TO MAKE FREE THE WIVES AND CHILDREN OF COL- 
ORED SOLDIERS. 

MR. TVTLSOX'S BILL TO PROMOTE ENLISTMENTS. — MR. POWELL'S MOTION 
TO STRIKE OUT THE SECTION TO MAKE FREE THE MOTHERS, WIVES, 
AND CHILDREN OF COLORED SOLDIERS. — MR. HENDERSON'S AMEND- 
MENT. — REMARKS OF MR. GRIMES. — MR. WILKINSON. — REMARKS OF 
MR. JOHNSON. — MR. SHERMAN'S SPEECH. — MR. CARLILE'S SPEECH. — 
REMARKS OF MR. DOOLITTLE. — MR. BROWN'S AMENDMENT. — MR. ^\^L- 
SON'S amendment. — MR. WILKINSON'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OP 
MR. SHERMAN. — MR. GRIMES. — MR. CONNESS'S MOTION TO REFER THE 
BILL. — REMARKS OF MR. CLARK. — MR. HOWARD. — MR. FESSENDEN. — 
MR. DAVIS'S AMENDMENT. — MR. WILKINSON'S SPEECH. — MR. WILSON'S 
JOINT RESOLUTION. 

THE third section of the bill to promote enlistments, 
introduced into the Senate on the 8th of January, 
1864, by Mr. Wilson of Massachusetts, declared that 
when any man or boy of African descent, owing service 
or labor in any State, under its laws, shall be mustered 
into the military or naval service of the United States, 
he, and his mother, wife, and children, shall be for ever 
free. On the 27th of January, the Senate proceeded 
to the consideration of the bill to promote enlistments. 
Mr. Powell (Dem.) of Kentucky moved to strike out 
the third section giving freedom to the motlicr, wife, 
and children of the colored soldier. ]Mr. Powell pro- 
nounced the section " clearly and palpably unconstitu- 
tional. There is certainly no power in tlils Congress to 
pass any such law. It is depriving loyal men of loyal 

27 



314 TO MAKE FREE THE \\T:VES AND CHILDREN 

States of their property, by the legislative enactment of 
this Congress." Mr. Henderson moved to strike out 
the words, "his mother, and his wife and children," and 
insert, " and his mother, his wife and children, shall 
also be free, provided that, by the laws of any State, they 
owe service or labor to any person or persons who have 
given aid or comfort to the existing Rebellion against the 
Government, since the 17th of July, 1862." Mr. 
Grimes said, "That is substantially the law now. The 
reason why I shall vote for this section is, that I am 
exceedingly anxious to pass a law by which it shall be 
declared, that if a man who has perilled his life for me 
and for the institutions of my country at Port Hudson — 
I care not what kind of a claim may be set up to his 
service, or who may set it up — is claimed by any one, 
that claim shall not be resrarded. I am unwillinof that 
after he has thus perilled his life, and been wounded in 
my defence, he shall be taken off to slavery by any per- 
son, or under any sort of institution. I think that such 
a proposition as this will meet the approval and com- 
mendation of the country ; and I rejoice that the senator 
from Massachusetts, and the Committee on Military 
Affairs, have given us an opportunity to record our votes 
in favor of it." Mr. Wilkinson said, " That is the law as 
it now stands ; and if the senator from Missouri wishes 
to carry out the purpose, or to retain this provision of 
the existing law, all he has to do is to oppose this sec- 
tion entirely. I think that law is the most disgraceful 
legislation of the Congress which passed it. It is a 
disgrace to the nation to pass such a law ; and I am very 
much rejoiced that the Committee on Military Affairs 
have introduced this bill wiping it out." Mr. Hender- 



OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 315 

son did not offer the amendment, to protect slavery. 
" I have not been engaged," he said, " very recently in 
the protection of that institution ; and, so far as I can o-o 
constitutionally to abolish the institution throughout the 
country, I most unhesitatingly would do so. My im- 
pression is, that, when you put this Rebellion down, 
slavery for ever dies, because of .the fact that they have 
organized this Rebellion on the existence of the institu- 
tion ; and, if the Rebellion goes by the board, the insti- 
tution itself goes. I can further state to those gentlemen, 
that I believe no State will again take its place in the 
Union, without first, by the action of its own people, 
abolishing slavery." 

The Senate on the 28th resumed, on motion of Mr. 
Wilson, the consideration of the bill. Mr. "Wilkinson 
demanded the yeas and nays on ]\Ii'. Henderson's 
motion to strike out " his mother, and his wife and 
children ; " and they were ordered. Mr. Johnson should 
vote in favor of the amendment. " I doubt very much," 
he said, " if any member of the Senate is more anxious 
to have the country composed entirely of free men and 
free women than I am. Su', the bill provides that a 
slave enlisted anywhere, no matter where he may be, 
whether he be within Maryland or out of ^laryland, 
whether he be within any other of the loyal States, or 
out of the loyal States altogether, is at once to work 
the emancipation of his wife and children. He may be 
in South Carolina ; and many a slave in South Carolina, 
I am sorry to say it, can well claim to have a wife, or 
perhaps wives and children, within the limits of jNIary- 
land. It is one of the vices and the horrible vices of 
the institution, one that has shocked me from infancy to 



316 TO MAKE FREE THE WIVES AND CHILDREN 

the present hour, that the whole marital relation is dis- 
regarded. They are made to be, practically and by 
education, forgetful or ignorant of that relation. When 
I say they are educated, I mean to say they are kept in 
absolute ignorance ; and, out of that, immorality of every 
description arises ; and among other immoralities is that 
the connubial relation does not exist." 

On the 2d of February, Mr. Sherman addressed the 
Senate upon the general questions of employing colored 
men as soldiers, and of emancipation. " On the subject 
of emancipation," he declared, "I am ready now to go 
as far as any one. Like all others, I hesitated at first, 
because I could not see the effect of the general project 
of emancipation. I think the time has now arrived when 
we must meet this question of emancipation boldly and 
fearlessly. There is no other way. Slavery is de- 
stroyed, not by your act, sir, or mine, but by the act of 
this Rebellion. I think, therefore, the better way would 
be to wipe out all that is left of the whole trouble, — the 
dead and buried and wounded of this system of slavery. 
It is obnoxious to every manly and generous sentiment. 
From the beginning, we should have armed the slaves ; 
but before doing so, in my judgment, we ought to se- 
cure them by law, by a great guaranty, in which you and 
I, and all branches of the Government, would unite in 
pledging the faith of the United States, that, for ever 
thereafter, they should hold their freedom against their 
old masters." Mr. Carlile followed Mr. Sherman, on 
the 8th, in opposition to the bill. He emphatically de- 
clared, that, "if it shall become necessary in this struggle 
for the confederates to arm their slaves, they will arm 
and emancipate them too; and I will say further, if 



OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 317 

their confederacy never crumbles into dust until it does 
so from the arming and emancipating their slaves, it will 
last until — 

' Heaven's last thunder shakes the world below.* 

The slaves know that their owners have the lesfal ri^-ht 
to emancipate them. Many of them know that you 
have not." 

On the 9th, the Senate resumed the consideration of 
the bill ; the pending question being i\lr. Henderson's 
amendment to strike out " his mother, wife, and chil- 
dren." Mr. Doolittle (Rep.) of AVisconsin opposed the 
bill, but favored an amendment of the Constitution. 
" Slavery," he said, "is dying, dying, all around us. It 
is dvino^ as a suicide dies. It is dvinsr in the House, and 
at the hands of its own professed friends. The sword 
which it would have driven into the vitals of this Repub- 
lic is parried, and thrust back into its own. And, sir, 
let it die ; let it die. Without any sympathy of mine, 
slavery with all its abominations may die, and go into 
everlasting perdition." ]\Ir. Richardson (Dem.) of 
Illinois asserted, that, "w^hile senators are struggling for 
the rights of the negro, they forget the white race, — the 
race that has made this country so great and so glorious ; 
that has upheld your flag in triumph on every ocean, 
and has carried your commerce to all the civilized porta 
of the earth." On the 8th of March, Mr. Brown (Rep.) 
of Missouri moved to amend the bill by striking out the 
third section, making the "mother, wife, and cliildrcn " 
of the colored soldier free, and inserting an amendment 
re-affirming the President's proclamation of emancipa- 
tion, and abolishing slavery throughout the United 

27* 



318 TO MAKE FREE THE WIVES AND CHILDEEN 

States. lie affirmed, in an elaborate speech of rare 
beauty and force, "that slavery yet liveth, the discus- 
sion which has attended every measure introduced here 
trenching upon it sufficiently attests. Neither dead, nor 
willing to die, but struggling for bein^, by joint and 
ligature and tissue and nerve, that some centre of future 
growth may lurk under proviso or exception, its vitality 
s upheld in this hour by appeal to the same constitu- 
tionalisms and local countenance that will be swift to 
maintain it hereafter if this epoch shall pass without its 
utter extinction. The soldier who has worn our uni- 
form and served under our flag must not hereafter labor 
as a slave. Nor would it be tolerable that liis wife, his 
mother, or his child, should be the property of another. 
The instinctive feeling of every man of generous impulse 
would revolt at such a spectacle. The guaranty of 
freedom for himself, his mother, his wife, and his child, 
is the inevitable incident of the employment of a slave as 
a soldi-er. If you have not the power, or do not mean, 
to emancipate him, and those with whom he is connect- 
ed by domestic ties, then, in the name of God and 
humanity, do not employ him as a soldier ! " 

On the 18th of March, Mr. Brown withdrew his 
amendment ; and Mr. Wilson moved to strike out the 
entire bill, and insert, " That when any person of African 
descent, whose service or labor is claimed in any State 
under the laws thereof, shall be mustered into the mili- 
tary or naval service of the United States, his wife and 
children, if any he have, shall for ever thereafter be free, 
any law, usage, or custom whatsoever, to the contrary 
notwithstanding ; that it shall be the duty of the com- 
mission appointed in each of the slave States represented 



OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 319 

in Congress under the provisions of the twenty-fourth 
section of the ^ Act to amend an act entitled " An act 
for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for 
other purposes,"* approved March 3, 1863,' approved 
Feb. 24, 1864, to award to each loyal person, to whom 
the wife and children aforesaid may owe service, a just 
compensation, to be paid out of any moneys which 
may be appropriated by Congress for that purpose." " I 
propose," he said, "in this amendment, to make the sol- 
dier's wife and children free, no matter to whom they 
belong. We have provided in the Enrolment Act, that 
a slave enlisted into the military service of the United 
States is free when he is mustered into the service. We 
have exercised that great power to strengthen the Gov- 
ernment in putting down the Rebellion. We have 
enlisted about eighty thousand colored men, and we 
are continuing to enlist colored men, in all parts of the 
country. But, sir, the . enlistment of colored men 
causes a vast deal of suffering ; for a great wrong is 
done to their families, and especially is that so in the 
State of Missouri. Those wives and children who are left 
behind, may be sold, may be abused ; and how can a 
soldier fight the battles of our country when he receives 
the intelligence that the wife he left at home, and the 
little ones he left around his hearth, were sold Into per- 
petual slavery, — sold where he would never see them 
more? Sir, if there be a crime on earth that should 
be promptly punished, it is the crime of selling into 
slavery, in a distant section of the country, the wives and 
children of the soldiers who are fighting the battles of 
our bleeding country. Now wife and children plead to 
the husband and father not to enlist, — to remain at 



320 TO MAKE FKEE THE WIVES AND CHILDEEN 

home for their protection. Pass this bill, and the wife 
and children will beseech that husband and father to 
fight for the country, for his liberty, and for their free- 
dom." Mr. Wilkinson moved to strike out the second 
section of the amendment, which proposed to pay the 
estimated value of wives and children of colored sol- 
diers. M*-. Pomeroy would amend that section. " I 
should like," he said, " to have that section amended in 
the eighth line by striking out the words, * to award to 
each loyal person to whom the wife and children afore- 
said may owe service a just compensation,'* and inserting, 
^ to settle the account between each such person made 
free and his or her owner, and award to each party such 
just compensation as may be found due.' " 

Mr. Sherman moved to postpone the bill until Thurs- 
day next, with a view that we may act upon the main 
proposition, the amendment to the Constitution to abolish 
slavery in the United States. Mr. Sumner said the main 
question was to hit slavery wherever and whenever it 
could be found. " I think it is a measure to fill up our 
armies," said Mr. Wilson ; " and it ought not to be post- 
poned an hour. Then, as a matter of justice, how can 
you go to a man, and ask him to enlist to fight the bat- 
tles of his country, when he knows, that, the moment 
his back is turned, his wife and children will be sold to 
strangers ? " Mr. Wilkinson believed the vote to be a 
most important one, and the proposition of Mr. Sherman 
would allow it to be more fully considered. Mr. Lane 
of Kansas differed with Mr. Wilkinson "as to the question 
of time. This is a bill, that, in my opinion, should be 
voted upon at the very earliest day, or else we should 
stop enlisting black men." Mr. Grimes said, " Here is a 



OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 321 

bill, which, it seems to me, it is very important that we 
should pass at an early day in some shape or other, 
either in the shape in which the senator from Massa- 
sachusetts (Mr. Wilson) presents it to us, and which I 
do not really approve, or as proposed to be amended 
by the senator from Minnesota (Mr. Wilkinson), or 
as proposed to be amended by the senator from Mis- 
souri (Mr. Brown) ; and I do not know of any bill 
that is before us, or that is likely to be before us 
to-day, which deserves the careful and the immediate 
attention of Congress more than this bill does." — "I 
suggested," said IVIr. Sherman, "in its discussion, a 
long time ago, practical difficulties which the senator 
from Massachusetts has not met. Who is the wife 
of a slave? Who is the child of a slave? What is 
the use of passing this bill, without employing some 
definite and distinctive language that will embrace the 
persons whom it is designed to embrace ? " Mr. Brown 
said, " You have the fact before you, that these col- 
ored soldiers are going into the army of the United 
States. You have the further fact before you, that 
slave-owners are hounding on a persecution in the Bor- 
der States, and selling the wives and children of those 
soldiers, making merchandise of their flesh and blood, 
and doing it as a punishment for their entry into our 
army as volunteers for our defence. Sliall we toler- 
ate that scene? Shall we legislate here, sending men 
day after day to sacrifice their lives for our protection, 
and yet sit quietly by, with no legislation to prevent, 
and see others sending the wives and children of 
those men day after day into further and harsher bond- 
age because they have done so ? " — "I do not," said 



322 TO MAKE FREE THE WIVES AND CHILDREIT 

Mr. Grimes, " apprehend that there is going to be any 
great trouble in ascertaining who are the wives and 
children of these men. As has been well said by the 
senator from Missouri, we all know that the laws of the 
slave States do not recognize the relation of husband 
and wife, or parent and child ; but we recognize the fact 
that such relations do de facto exist, and that is enough 
for our purpose : it ought to be enough ; and we shall 
be justified by the people of the country who sent us 
here in regarding it as enough for all the purposes 
of this bill." 

"There are," said Mr. Sherman, "grave questions of 
constitutional power involved in this proposition. The 
general object proposed to be accomplished, I desire as 
much as any one ; but I want to do it in an eiFective 
way : and I think it is much wiser for us to defer all 
these propositions in regard to slavery, until we can, by 
a general plan based upon a constitutional amendment 
proposed by Congress, and submitted to the people, 
aided by auxiliary legislation, wipe out the whole sys- 
tem in the mode provided by the Constitution." — 
"The senator from Ohio," said Mr. Wilson, "takes the 
position, that, because there is a proposition pending to 
amend the Constitution of the United States to abolish 
slavery, we are to do nothing else against slavery. Sir, 
I say it is sound policy to strike this system of slavery 
whenever and wherever you can get a blow at it. It 
is to perish, if it perish at all, by hedging it around 
by every enactment, breaking down every barrier that 
surrounds it, and defeating the three hundred thousand 
bayonets behind which it is intrenched." Mr. Conness 
moved to refer the bill to the Committee on Slavery and 



OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 323 

Freedmen. Mr. Wilson objected to the recommitment 
of the bill, and modified his amendment by withdrawing 
the second section. Mr. Conness said it was not in 
a condition that he could vote for it. He hoped the 
Senate would come to a vote on the motion to recom- 
mit. Mr. Carlile would refer it to the Judiciary 
Committee. He thought the difficulties that had been 
suo^aested as to ascertaininor who are the wife and chil- 
dren of the party will not be found to be great in prac- 
tical operation. "The great question," he said, "which 
stands in my way in support of this bill, is the question 
of power." Mr. Clark opposed recommitment. It 
would return from the Judiciary Committee with the 
same question embarrassing it. He would discuss the 
question in the Senate. He said, "Here you desire to 
put soldiers in your army, and those soldiers have their 
wives and their children. You are desirous of putting 
those soldiers in the service at the earliest moment ; and 
the people who want to prevent those soldiers from going 
into the army take these very means to torment the sol- 
dier, so that he shall not go in. The master says to him, 
in effect, ' If you go into the armies of the United States, 
and fight the battles of the country, I will sell your wife ; 
I will abuse your children.' That is very much worse 
than the rendition of a fugitive slave ; and an amend- 
ment of the Constitution which would take place months 
hence does not cure or remedy the evil." Mr. Doolittle 
asked Mr. Clark if he had evidence that loyal masters 
" abused their women and children." — " We know," re- 
plied Mr. Clark, " that everywhere in these loyal States 
there are men who are in sympathy with the Rebellion. 
We know that men in the loyal States are opposed to 



324 TO MAKE FREE THE WIVES AND CHILDREN 

the negroes going into the service. Many of those 
men — I will not say all — would be willing to punish 
the negro if he went in, if they are in sympathy with 
the Rebellion, by the abuse of his wife and children. 
They wish to deter him from going into the service if 
they can ; and they say to him, ^ Not only shall your 
wife and children have no care, no food, no protection, 
but they shall be sold into slavery ; and, when you 
return from fighting the battles of the Union, you shall 
find your home desolate, your wife gone no one knows 
where in slavery, and your children all sent away.'" 
Mr. Howard hoped this bill would not be referred to the 
Judiciary Committee. He said, " There may be some 
difficulty in the apprehension of some gentlemen, per- 
haps, as to who can claim to be the wife or the child of 
a slave ; inasmuch as the laws of the slaveholding States 
do not recognize the relation of husband and wife, and 
of parent and child, in that class. I know of no other 
mode of solving this difficulty than this : that that per- 
son shall be held to be the wife of the slave who rec- 
ognizes the slave to be her husband, and whose husband 
recognizes the woman to be his wife ; adopting the same 
principle of the common law that applies in other 
cases, — a simple recognition of the relation of husband 
and vsdfe, and of parent and child." Mr. Fessenden 
said, "My doubt of course was, in the beginning, 
whether, in taking persons of this description, and 
insisting that they should render military service, we 
could go so far as to liberate other persons connected 
with them. That was a very serious difficulty ; but, 
sir, I have been convinced that we can do any thing 
that is necessary to be done in order to accomplish the 



OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 325 

purpose that we have in view, and which is not only a 
legal, but a necessary purpose, — the salvation and 
perpetuation of the Republic." 

The Senate, on the 21st, resumed the consideration of 
the bill. Mr. Wilson said, " I desire, after consulting 
w4th some senators, to modify the amendment that I 
offered to the bill, by adding, after the word 'wife,' the 
words, ' meaning thereby the woman regarded and treat- 
ed by him as such.' " — "I move," said Mr. Davis, "to 
amend the amendment by adding to it, ' and the loyal 
owner or owners of the wife or children of all slaves 
taken into the military service of the United States shall 
be entitled to a just compensation for such wife and chil- 
dren of said slaves.' " He maintained that slaves were 
property ; that, as such, they could only be taken for 
public use by paying a just compensation. " The party 
in power are grinding us to the dust by the weight and 
tyrannies of an organized military despotism. These 
usurpers and oppressors are seizing upon our able- 
bodied negro slaves, and organizing them into a standing 
army already numbering nearly one hundred thousand 
men, and to be augmented far beyond those figures^ to 
hold us in hapless and hopeless political, social, and 
commercial servitude to themselves. Belshazzar and his 
host are now drunk and feasting ; but Cjtus and 
the Persians will soon be upon them. The aroused 
American freemen wiU effect their own deliverance at 
the ides of next November." — "This bill," said Mr. 
AYilkinson, " is to give freedom to the wives and children 
of the soldiers who fight our battles for the Government 
and for freedom. It has been claimed, that, if this bill 
shall pass, it will work the emancipation of the whole 

28 



326 TO MAKE FKEE THE WIVES AND CHILDREN 

neoTO race within the United States. While the noblest 

o 

and the best sons of the loyal States were reddening 
every rivulet in Virginia with their blood, and almost 
every sod of the Old Dominion was pressing upon the 
grave of a blue-eyed soldier of the North, we turned 
our backs coldly upon the only friends we had in the 
rebellious States, and said to them, ^You are black, 
and are not worthy to suiFer and die for freedom : we 
would rather lose our own liberties than to give freedom 
to a nation of slaves.' I do not know but that it was 
the design of Providence to blind the eyes of the people 
of the North to their true interests, until they had paid 
the full penalty for their participation in the great crime 
of human slavery in this Government. There is a 
retributive justice in this war, as the senator from 
Maryland said, and it is visited alike upon the North 
and the South ; for the North as well as the South has 
been a guilty participator in the foulest crime that ever 
blackened the character of a nation." 

On the 22d, the Senate resumed the consideration of 
the bill ; and Mr. Willey (Union) of West Virginia 
addressed the Senate. He said he was disposed to 
believe the cases of vindictive cruelty to which allusions 
had been made were "more justly attributable to the 
impending universal emancipation of slavery in Missouri 
than to any exasperation of the master growing out of 
the enlistment of his slave." He thought the passage 
of the bill would "lead to very distressing difficulties 
in the States where these slaves live. There can be," 
he declared, "in Virginia, between slaves, no legal 
marriage ; there can be no wife in the eye of the law ; 
there can be no children of slaves in the eyes of the 



OF COLORED SOLDIERS. 327 

law." The bill was not brought to a vote In tlie 
Senate. 

In the Senate, on the 18th of May, Mr. AYilson 
introduced a joint resolution to encourage enlistments, 
and to promote the efficiency of the military forces of 
the United States. This resolution provided that the 
wife and children of any person that has been or may be 
mustered into the military or naval service of the Unit- 
ed States shall be for ever free, any law, usage, or cus- 
tom whatsoever, to the contrary notwithstanding ; that, 
in determinino; who is the wife and who are the children 
of the enlisted person, evidence that he and the woman 
claimed to be his wife have lived together, associated as 
husband and wife, and so continued to live or associate 
at the time of the enlistment, or that a form of marriage, 
whether the same was or was not authorized or recog- 
nized by law, has been celebrated between them, and 
that the parties thereto thereafter lived together or 
associated as husband and wife, and so continued to live 
or associate at the time of the enlistment, shall be 
deemed sufficient proof of a marriage ; and the children 
of any such marriages born while the same continued, 
although It had ceased at the time of enhstment, shall 
be deemed and taken to be tlie children mentioned in 
this resolution. The provisions of this resolution were 
reported, moved as amendments to several bills, but 
failed to be brought to the test of the vote of the 
Senate. The joint resolution to make free the wives 
and children of colored soldiers is pending in the Sen- 
ate, and will doubtless be pressed at the next session. 



328 



CHAPTER XYII. 

A BUREAU OF FREEDMEN. 

MEMORIAL OF THE MASSACHUSETTS EMANCIPATION LEAGUE. — MK. ELIOT'S 
BILL. — SELECT COMMITTEE ON EMANCIPATION. — FREEDMEN'S BILL 
REPORTED BY MR. ELIOT. — REMARKS OF MR. ELIOT. — MR. COX. — 
MR. COLE. — MR. BROOKS. — MR. KELLEY. — MR. DAWSON. — MR. PRICE. 
— MR. KNAPP. — MR. PENDLETON. — PASSAGE OF MR. ELIOT'S BILL. — 
MR. SUMNER'S BILL. — MR. ELIOT'S BILL REPORTED BY MR. SUMNER, 
WITH AN AMENDMENT. — MR. SUMNER'S SPEECH. — 3IR. SUMNER'S 
AMENDMENT AMENDED AND ADOPTED IN THE SENATE. — THE HOUSE 
POSTPONE THE BILL TO THE NEXT SESSION. 

IN the Senate, on the 12th of January, 1863, Mr. 
Wilson (Rep.) presented the memorial of the Eman- 
cipation League of Massachusetts, setting forth the 
needs of the new-made freedmen and the duty of the 
Government, and praying for the immediate establish- 
ment of a Bureau of Emancipation ; which was ordered 
to be printed, and referred to the Committee on Military 
Affairs. In the House, on the 19th, Mr. Eliot (Rep.) 
of Massachusetts introduced a bill to establish a Bureau 
of Emancipation ; which was referred to the Select Com- 
mittee on Emancipation, of which Mr. White (Rep.) 
of Indiana was Chairman. 

On the 14th of December, 1863, Mr. Eliot intro- 
duced a bill to establish a Bureau of Emancipation ; 
which was referred to a select committee of nine, consist- 
ing of Mr. Eliot (Rep.) of Massachusetts, Mr. Kelley 
(Rep.) of Pennsylvania, Mr. Knapp (Dom.) of Illi- 



A BUREAU or FREEDMEN. 329 

nois, ]\Ir. Orth (Rep.) of Indiana, Mr. Boyd (Rep.) 
of Missouri, Mr. Kalbfleisch (Dem.) of New York, 
Mr. Cobb ( Rep. ) of Wisconsin, Mr. Anderson 
(Union) of Kentucky, and ]VIi\ Middleton (Dem.) of 
New Jersey. On the 23d, Mr. Eliot reported from the 
Select Committee a bill to establish a Bureau of Eman- 
cipation ; which was ordered to be printed, and recom- 
mitted to the committee. On the 13th of January, 
1864, Mr. Eliot reported back the bill with an amend- 
ment. Mr. Kalbfleisch made a minority report. On 
the 10th of February, the bill came up for consideration. 
Mr. Eliot offered a substitute for the original bill. Mr. 
Holman (Dem.) of Indiana moved to lay the biU on the 
table, and Mr. Cox (Dem.) of Ohio moved to refer it 
to the Committee of the Whole. The Speaker ruled 
that Mr. Eliot held the floor. Mr. Eliot addressed the 
House in favor of his bill in an earnest and able speech. 
He said the freedmen were " the children of the Gov- 
ernment. Quick to learn ; appreciating kindnesses, and 
returning them with veneration and affection ; earnest 
to acquire property, because that, too, is proof of man- 
hood, — they ask but opportunity and guidance and edu- 
cation for a season, and then they will repay you, some 
thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred fold. ... So 
shall this, your act, give to the freedmen of the South, 
and to all the freemen w^hom you represent, ^ beauty for 
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of 
praise for the spirit of heaviness.' " 

On the 17th, the House proceeded to the considera- 
tion of Mr. Eliot's bill, and Mr. Cox spoke against its 
enactment. He declared that " not merely has tlie 
President's proclamation been made a living lie, but 

28* 



330 A BUREAU OF FREEDMEN. 

the thousands of corpses daily hurried out of the contra- 
band hovels and tents along the Mississippi prove it to 
have been a deadly lie. Neither the judgment of man 
nor the favor of God can be invoked without mockery 
upon a fanatical project so fraught with misery to the 
.weak, and wholesale slaughter to its deluded victims." 
Mr. Cole (Rep.) of California followed on the 18th in 
an earnest speech in favor of the bill and the policy of 
freedom. Mr. Kalbfieisch, on the 19th, spoke in oppo- 
sition to the measure. Mr. Brooks (Dem.) of New 
York said, " The bill is vast in its territory, vast in its 
objects, vast in its purposes, vast in its intentions." 
He declared, " Whenever a gentleman from Massachu- 
setts in these our latter days introduces any bill or pro- 
pounds any proposition for the consideration of the 
House, I always listen to him with attentive ears, with 
apprehension, with something of awe ; nay, with that 
deep interest that the Roman of old must have listened 
to the unrolling of the leaves of the Sibyl, or the Greek 
to the utterings of the oracle in Delphos. Massachu- 
setts is now the leading power in this country. What- 
ever she decrees is in ail probability to be law. She 
exercises the same control over this vast country, which 
stretches from the Passamaquoddy to the Rio Grande, 
and from the Rio Grande to the Pacific, that was exer- 
cised by imperial Rome, on the little Tiber, from the 
Pillars of Hercules to the Euphrates and Tigris. Boston, 
her capital, is well called the hub of our universe, with 
her spokes now inserted in New York, Pennsylvania, 
Ohio J the great West, and the great North-west, the 
rim of whose wheel now runs with frightful, crushing 
velocity from that Passamaquoddy to that Rio Grande. 



A BUREAU OF FREEDMEN. 331 

... I know the spirit of Massacliusetts. I know hor 
inexorable, unappeasable, demoniac energy." He 
thought " this freedmen's bill not worthy of the prac- 
tical mind of Massachusetts. ... It must have come 
from some of the freedmen's commissioners, — perhaps 
from Robert Dale Owen ; for the bill is Socialistic, -Fou- 
rieristic, Owenistic, erotic." On the 23d, Mr. Kelley, 
a member of the Select Committee that reported the bill, 
spoke eloquently in favor of its passage. In reply to 
Mr. Brooks, he said, "I am no son of Massachusetts or 
New England, as the gentleman is, but I remember, 
that in my wayward youth, being free from the inden- 
ture that had bound me to a long apprenticeship, but 
not having attained manhood, I wandered from my 
native Pennsylvania, counter to the current tide of emi- 
gration, in pursuit of employment, and found a home in 
Massachusetts ; and I may be pardoned if I pause for a 
moment to feebly testify my gratitude to her, in whom 
I found a o'entle and o'cnerous foster-mother. I thank 
God for the Puritan spirit of Massachusetts. A boy, 
poor, friendless, and in pursuit of wages for manual toil, 
I found open to me, in the libraries of Boston, the 
science, history, and literature of the world. At a cost 
that even the laboring man did not feel, I found, niglit 
after night, and week after week, in her lyceums and 
lecture-rooms, the means of intercourse with her Ban- 
crofts, her Brownsons, her Everctts, her Channings, her 
Prescotts, her Emersons, and scores of others as learned 
and as able sons as these, though perhaps less distin- 
guished. I thus learned what it was to be an American 
citizen, and to what a height American civilization will 
be carried ; and I found four years of life spent at well- 



332 A BUEEAU OF FEEEDMEN. 

paid toil worth to me what the same number of years 
in a collesfe mio^ht have been. . . . You need not fear 
that this black race will fade away. The glowing South, 
the land of the tropics, genial to them, invites its own 
development, and will insure that of this race." 

The House resumed the consideration of the bill on 
the 24th; and Mr. Dawson (Dem.) of Pennsylvania 
made an elaborate and able speech in opposition to the 
policy of the Administration. Mr. Davis of Maryland 
followed on the 25th in a speech of eloquence and pow- 
er. Mr. Knapp (Dem.) of Illinois addressed the House 
on the 1st of March in opposition to the passage of the 
bill. Mr. Price (Rep.) of Iowa spoke for the bill, and 
sharply replied to Mr. Cox. Mr. Eliot moved the pre- 
vious question, which was sustained by the House. Mr. 
Eliot yielded a portion of his hour to close the debate 
to Mr. Pendleton (Dem.) of Ohio, who spoke briefly 
but forcibly against the right to enact the bill. He 
thouo^ht the freedmen, numberino^ more than half a mil- 
lion, "long for the repose and quiet of their old homes, 
and the care of their masters ; that freedom has not been 
to them the promised boon ; that even thus soon it has 
proven itself to be a life of torture, ending only in 
certain and speedy death." Mr. Wadsworth, by the 
courtesy of Mr. Eliot, spoke briefly against the passage 
of the bill. Mr. Eliot, being anxious to take the vote, 
declined to close the debate. Mr. Brooks's motion to 
recommit the bill was lost, and the substitute moved 
by Mr. Eliot was agreed to. Mr. Mallory (Dem.) of 
Kentucky moved to lay the bill on the table, — yeas 62, 
nays 68. IVIr. Mallory demanded the yeas and nays on 
the passage of the bill ; and they were ordered. The 



A BUREAU OF FEEEDMEN. 333 

question was taken, — yeas 69, nays 67. So the bill 
passed the House. 

In the Senate, on the 2d of March, Mr. Eliot's bill was 
referred to the Select Committee on Slavery, of which 
Mr. Sumner was chairman. On the 12th of April, 
Mr. Sumner reported from the Select Committee on 
Slavery a bill to establish a Bureau of Freedmen ; which 
was read, and ordered to a second reading. On the 
25th of May, Mr. Sumner reported back from the Select 
Committee on Slavery Mr. Eliot's bill, with an amend- 
ment to strike out the original bill, and insert his bill in 
lieu of it. On the 8th of June, the Senate proceeded 
to the consideration of the House bill, the pending ques- 
tion being on the substitute reported by Mr. Sumner as 
an amendment. Mr. Sumner explained the provisions 
of his substitute for the House bill, and earnestly and 
eloquently pressed the importance of prompt action. 
" The opportunity," he declared, " must not be lost, of 
helping so many persons who are now helpless, and 
of aiding the cause of reconciliation, without which 
peace cannot be assured." i\Ir. Kichardson (Dem.) 
of Illinois opposed the bill, and bitterly assailed the 
Administration . 

On the 14th, Mr. Sumner moved to proceed to the 
consideration of the House bill to establish a Bureau 
of Ereedmen's Affairs. Mr. M'Dougall demanded the 
yeas and nays, — yeas 23, nays 11. Several important 
amendments were made ; not, however, changing the 
general features of the measure. iNIr. Carlile (Dem.) 
01 Virginia moved to postpone the further consideration 
of the bill to the first Monday of December next, — yeas 
13, nays 23. Mr. Willey (Union) of AVest Virginia, 



334 A BUREAU OF FREEDMEN. 

earnestly opposed and severely criticised the bill, and 
Mr. Sumner sharply replied to Mr. Willey's remarks. 
On the 27th, the Senate resumed the consideration of 
the bill ; and several amendments were offered by the 
friends and opponents of the measure. Mr. Trumbull 
moved to amend the bill by adopting a new section, 
repealing the last clause of a joint resolution explanatory 
of the Confiscation Act. On the 28th, the vote was 
taken on Mr. Trumbull's amendment ; and it was adopt- 
ed, — yeas 23, nays 15. Mr. Doolittle moved that all 
assistant commissioners and superintendents and other 
officers be so far considered in the military service as to 
be liable to trial by court martial ; and the amendment 
was agreed to. Mr. Willey moved to authorize the 
commissioners to open a correspondence with the gov- 
ernors and municipal authorities, to aid in securing 
homes for the freedmen ; and it was adopted, — yeas 19, 
nays 15. Mr. Wilson moved to strike out of the sub- 
stitute the word "treasury," and insert "war." — "I 
have moved this amendment, because, in my judgment, 
it is better, in every aspect in which the case can be 
viewed, that this bureau should be in the War De- 
partment, because the War Department controls the 
armies. The rebel States are divided into military de- 
partments ; and all the law we administer there is mil- 
itary law, and all the government we exercise over them 
is military government. Why we should take these 
people, who now flock to the army, and have gathered 
around it for protection and support, from under the 
control of the War Department, and put them under 
the control of speculating treasury agents, is a thing I 
cannot comprehend." Mr. Sumner hoped the amend- 



A BUREAU OF FREEDMEX. 335 

ment would not be adopted. He declared, " If it sliould 
be adopted, I shall consider the bill worse than notliin"-." 
"I do not wish," replied Mr. Wilson, "to take the re- 
sponsibility of giving a turn to this bill contrary to the 
wishes of my colleague, who has had the direction of it ; 
and, having stated my opinion, I withdraw the amend- 
ment." Mr. Sumner's substitute for the House bill 
was then agreed to, and the bill reported to the Senate 
as amended. Mr. Johnson moved to strike out the 
word " treasury," and insert the word " war," — yeas 15, 
nays 20. Mr. Davis spoke in opposition to the bill, 
and in denunciation of the policy of the Administra- 
tion ; and Mr. Wilkinson sharply replied to Mr. Davis. 
Mr. Hendricks opposed the passage of the bill, and Mr. 
Chandler earnestly advocated the policy of using the 
negro to put down the Rebellion. "A secession traitor," 
he declared, " is beneath a loyal negro. I would let a 
loyal negro vote ; I would let him testify ; I would let 
him fight ; I would let him do any other good thing ; 
and I would exclude a secession traitor. I say this 
deliberately, that in Kentucky, in Tennessee, in Ala- 
bama, in Louisiana, in South Carolina, in every single 
rebel State, I consider a loyal negro better than a seces- 
sion traitor, and I will treat him better. j\Iake the 
most of it." — "The policy," said Mr. M'Dougall, 
"proposed by this bill, is an outrage upon Clu-istianity 
and humanity ; and as such, with a severe sense of duty, 
I denounce it." Mr. Buckalew called for the yeas and 
nays on the passage of the bill ; and they were ordered, 
— yeas 21, nays 9. So the bill "to estabHsh a Bureau 
of Freedmen " passed the Senate on the 28th of June. 
In the House, on the 2d of July, Mr. Eliot, from the 



336 A BUREAU OF FREEDMEN. 

Select Committee on Emancipation, reported back his 
bill and the amendment of the Senate, and moved that 
th'e amendment of the Senate be non-concurred in. 
Mr. Washburne (Rep.) of Illinois expressed the hope 
that Mr. Eliot would withdraw his report, and let the 
call of the committees go on. Mr. Eliot could not 
consent to that. Mr. Griswold (Dem.) of New York 
wished to know if it would be in order to move to lay 
the bill on the table. Mr. Washburne suggested that 
he could move the postponement to the next session. 
Mr. Griswold moved to postpone the further considera- 
tion of the bill to the 20th of December next. The 
motion was agreed to ; and the bill will come up for con- 
sideration at the next session. 



337 



CHAPTER xym. 

EECONSTRUCTION OF REBEL STATES. 

MR. HARLAN'S BILL. — MR. SUMXER'S RESOLUTIONS. — MR. ASHLEY'S BILL. 
— MR. HARRIS'S BILL. — MR. WINTER DAVIS'S RESOLUTION. — SELECT 
COMMITTEE ON RECONSTRUCTION. — MR. DA^^S'S BILL. — REMARKS OP 
MR. DAVIS, MR. BEAMAN, MR. ALLEN, MR. SMITHERS, MB. NORTON, MB. 
BROOMALL, MR. SCOFIELD, MR. DAWSON, MR. WILLIAMS, MR. BALD^VIN 
OF MASSACHUSETTS, MR. DONNELLY, MR. PERHAM, MR. GOOCH, MR. 
FERNANDO WOOD, MR. KELLEY, MR. BOUTWELL, MR. PENDLETON. — 
MR. DAVIS'S SUBSTITUTE. — PASSAGE OF MR. DAVIS'S BILL. — HOUSE 
BILL REPORTED BY MR. WADE. — MR. BROWN' S AMENDMENT. — MB. 
SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — PASSAGE OF MR. BROWN'S SUBSTITUTE. — 
HOUSE NON-CONCUR. — SENATE RECEDE. — PASSAGE OF THE BILL. — 
THE PF.ESIDENT REFUSES TO APPROVE IT. 

IN the Senate, on the 26th of December, 1861, ]Mr. 
Harlan (Rep.) of Iowa introduced a bill to estab- 
lish a provisional government in each of the districts of 
country embraced within the limits of the Confederate 
States of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, 
Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee ; which was referred to 
the Committee on Territories. Mr. Sumner, on the 
11th of February, 1862, introduced a series of resolu- 
tions declaratory of the relations between the United 
States and the territory once occupied by certain States, 
and now usurped by pretended governments without 
constitutional or legal right. These resolutions declare 
that slavery, being a local institution, ceased to exist 
when the States no longer exist ; that it is the duty 
of Congress to see that everywhere, in this extensive 

29 



338 KECONSTRUCTION OF REBEL STATES. 

territory, slavery shall cease to exist practically, as it has 
already ceased to exist constitutionally or legally ; and 
that any recognition of slavery, or surrender of pretend- 
ed slaves, besides being a recognition of the pretended 
governments, giving them aid and comfort, is a de^iial 
of the rights of persons, who, by the extinction of the 
States, have become free, so that, under the Constitu- 
tion, they cannot again be enslaved. No action was 
taken on these resolutions. 

In the House, Mr. Ashley (Rep.) of Ohio, on the 12th 
of March, reported, from the Committee on Territories, 
a bill for a provisional government over the territory 
in rebellion. Mr. Pendleton (Dem.) of Ohio declared 
that " this bill ousrht to be entitled a bill to dissolve the 
Union, and abolish the Constitution ; " and moved that 
it be laid upon the table. Mr. Bingham (Rep.) of 
Ohio demanded the yeas and nays, — yeas 65, nays 
56. So the bill was laid upon the table. 

Mr. Harris (Rep.) of New York, on the 14th of 
February, introduced into the Senate a bill to establish 
provisional governments in certain cases ; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Mr. Harris 
repeatedly pressed the consideration of the measure ; 
but no action was taken upon it. On the 3d of March, 
1863, the Senate, on motion of Mr. Harris, proceeded 
to the consideration of the bill ; and Mr. Harris pro- 
posed to amend it by striking out six sections, and 
inserting three new sections. The third section of the 
amendment provided that no law, whereby any person 
has heretofore been held to service or labor in any such 
State, shall be recognized or enforced by any court or 
officer constituted or appointed under the provisions of 



RECONSTRUCTION OF REBEL STATES. 339 

this act ; and all laws providing for the trial and pun- 
ishment of white persons in any such State shall be 
deemed, and are hereby declared to be, applicable to 
the trial and punishment of all persons whomsoever 
wdthin the jurisdiction of such court or officer. Mr. 
Carlile (Dem.) of Virginia moved to strike out those 
words. Mr. Davis (Dem.) of Kentucky moved to lay 
the bill on the table, — yeas 15 ; nays 21. The Senate, 
by a vote of 22 to 13, on motion of Mr. Wilkinson 
(Rep.) of Minnesota, postponed the consideration of the 
bill, to take up the bill for the organization of Idaho. 

In the House of Eepresentatives, on the ISth of De- 
cember, 1863, Mr. Stevens (Rep.) of Pennsylvania 
proposed that so much of the President's message as 
relates to the condition and treatment of the rebellious 
States be referred to a Select Committee of nine. 
Mr. Davis (Rep.) of Maryland moved to amend the 
resolution, so as to appoint a committee of nine, to 
wdiom so much of the President's message as relates 
to the duty of the United States to guarantee a repub- 
lican form of government to the States shall be referred, 
which shall report the bills necessary and proper to 
carry into execution that guaranty. After a brief de- 
bate, the amendment of ]\Ir. Davis was carried, — yeas 
91, nays 80; and the Speaker appointed as the se- 
lect committee Mr. Davis (Rep.) of Maryland, i\Ir. 
Gooch (Rep.) of Massachusetts, Mr. J. C. AHen 
(Dem.) of Illinois, Mr. Ashley (Rep.) of Ohi5, Mr. 
Fenton (Rep.) of New York, Mr. Holman (Dem.) of 
Indiana, Mr. Smithers (Rep.) of Delaware, Mr. Blow 
(Rep.) of Missouri, and Mr. English (Dem.) of Con- 
necticut. 



340 EECONSTRUCTION OF EEBEL STATES. 

On the 15tli of February, Mr. Davis reported a bill 
to guarantee to certain States whose governments have 
been usurped a republican form of government ; which 
was read twice, ordered to be printed, and recommitted 
to the committee. 

On the 22d of March, on motion of Mr. Davis, the 
House proceeded to the consideration of the bill guaran- 
teeing to certain States a republican form of govern- 
ment. The bill, among other things, provided that the 
State constitutional conventions to be held shall incor- 
porate into the constitutions of the States that invol- 
untary servitude is for ever prohibited, and the freedom 
of all persons is guaranteed. The bill also provided 
that all persons held to involuntary servitude or labor 
in the rebel States are emancipated and discharged, and 
they and their posterity shall be for ever free ; and, if 
they or their posterity shall be restrained of liberty un- 
der pretence of any claim to such service or labor, the 
courts of the United States shall, on habeas corpus 
discharge them. The bill also provided, that if any 
person declared free by this act, or any law of the 
United States, or any proclamation of the President, 
be restrained of liberty, with intent to be held in or 
reduced to involuntary servitude or labor, the person 
convicted before a court of competent jurisdiction of 
such act shall be punished by fine of not less than fifteen 
hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not less than five 
nor more than twenty years. Mr. Davis addressed, the 
House eloquently in support of his bill. jMr. Beaman 
(Rep.) of Michigan earnestly advocated the measure. 
He closed his speech by the emphatic declaration, " By 
no consent of mine shall a single one of the wayward 



RECONSTRUCTION OF REBEL STATES. 341 

States ever be permitted to participate in shaping tlie 
destinies of this nation, until she has by her organic law 
for ever prohibited involuntary servitude, except as a 
punishment for crime, within all her borders ; nor, while 
I have life and strength, will I cease to urge by all con- 
stitutional means the freedom of every inhabitant of the 
United States, without regard to color or race." 

On the 19th of April, the House resumed the dis- 
cussion of the bill ; and ]\Ir. J. C. Allen, a member 
of the Select Committee, addressed the House in op- 
position to its passage. " Some one," he said, " had 
suggested, that, when slavery was buried, upon its 
tombstone should be written, ^Slavery, — died of the 
Rebellion.' I wari; gentlemen to beware, lest beside 
the grave of Slavery be found another grave and another 
tombstone, whereon History will write, Xivil Liberty, — 
died of Revolution.' " Mr. Smithers of Delaware made 
an earnest and able speech in advocacy of tlie measure. 
" I do not," he said, " trust wholly to presidential j^jroc- 
lamations. I prefer to rest the security of the Re- 
public upon the safer and more irrefragable basis of 
Congressional enactments. I would not forego any 
possible precaution against the recurrence of fraternal 
strife. Homogeneity of institutions is our only safe- 
guard ; universal freedom, the only possible solution." 
Mr. Norton (Rep.) of Illinois spoke ift favor of the 
measure, and sharply criticised the speeches made in 
favor of the policy of peace. He was followed by Mr. 
Broomall (Rep.) of Pennsylvania in earnest advocacy 
of the bill. " Let us at last," he exclaimed, " do justice 
to our mother-tongue, — that in which the great Englisli 
and the greater American charter were written ; that 

29* 



342 RECONSTRUCTION OF REBEL STATES. 

which, from its infancy, proclaimed the rights of men, 
and denounced the crimes of tyrants. Let us learn, 
that, sublime as it is for the utterance of grand truths, 
it is no language to lie in.^^ Mr. Scofield (Rep.) of 
Pennsylvania spoke eloquently in favor of the policy 
of emancipation. He thought we had exhausted " all 
concessions within the range of possibility, which, if 
made, would conciliate the slave power. Even James 
Buchanan, so gifted in abasement, could find nothing 
more in the shape of theory to give them, and in its 
stead tendered the low villany of Lecompton." Mr. 
Dawson (Dem.) of Pennsylvania opposed the enact- 
ment of the bill. Mr. Williams (Rep.) of Pennsyl- 
vania followed in a speech of rare beauty and masterly 
power. He paid a glowing tribute to New England 
and to Massachusetts. "Leave out," he exclaimed, 
" Massachusetts in the cold ! What matters it that no 
tropical sun has fevered her Northern blood into the 
delirium of treason? I know no trait of tenderness 
more touchins: and more human than that with which 
she received back to her arms the bodies of her lifeless 
children. ^ Handle them tenderly ' was the message of 
her loyal governor. Massachusetts desired to look once 
more upon the faces of her martyred sons, ' marred as 
they w^ere by traitors.' She lifted gently the sable pall 
that covered them. She gave them a soldier's burial 
and a soldier's farewell ; and then, like David of old, 
when he was informed that the child of his affections 
had ceased to live, she rose to her feet, dashed the tear- 
drop from her eye, and in twenty days her iron-clad 
battalions were crowning the heights, and her guns 
frowning destruction over the streets, of the rebel city. 



RECOXSTRUCTIOX OF REBEL STATES. 343 

Shut out Massachusetts in the cold ! Yes : you may 
blot her out from the map of the continent : you 
may bring back the glacial epoch, when the arctic 
ice-drift that has deposited so many monuments on her 
soil swept over her buried surface, — when the polar 
bear, perhaps, paced the driving floes, and the walrus 
frolicked among the tumbling icebergs : but you cannot 
sink her deep enough to drown the memory of Lex- 
ington and Concord, or bury the summit of the tall 
column that lifts its head over the first of our battle- 
fields. ^ With her,' in the language of her great son, 
' the joa5^ at least is secure.' The Muse of History has 
flung her story upon the world's canvas in tints that 
will not fade, and cannot die." Mr. Baldwin (Dem.) 
of Michigan opposed the bill and the emancipation 
measures of the Administration. " Fanatical radical- 
ism," he declared," has gained the ascendency ; and the 
war for the last eighteen months has been prosecuted, 
not for the restoration of the Union, but for the destruc- 
tion of the South." Mr. Thayer (Rep.) of Pennsyl- 
vania advocated the policy of taking security for the 
future peace of the nation. Mr. Yeaman (Union) of 
Kentucky did not see our power to legislate away the 
laws and institutions of States. " Viewing the bill 
from the stand-point of those w^ho desire universal abo- 
lition, it would seem to be idle and premature legisla- 
tion, because, without military success, the law is a dead 
letter; and with military success, under tlie present 
programme, abolition is accomplished without the law." 
Mr. Longyear (Rep.) of Michigan spoke in favor of 
the passage of the bill. 

On the 2d of May, Mr. Donnelly (Rep.) of Minne- 



344 EECONSTRUCTION OF REBEL STATES. 

sota addressed the House in its favor. "I cannot," 
he said, " perceive the advantage, to any man, of the 
degradation of any other man ; and I feel assured of 
the greatness and perpetuity of my country, only in so 
far as it identifies itself with the uninterrupted progress 
and the universal liberty of mankind." Mr. Dennison 
(Dem.) of Pennsylvania opposed the measure and the 
general policy of the Administration. Mr. Stevens 
spoke in advocacy of the bill, and of a radical antislavery 
policy. Mr. Strouse (Dem.) of Pennsylvania severely 
denounced the policy of the Administration ; and Mr. 
Cravens (Dem.) of Indiana followed in a general assault 
upon the principles and measures of the Administration. 
On the 3d, Mr. Perham (Rep.) of Maine spoke 
earnestly for the measure, and Mr. Keenan (Dem.) of 
New York strenuously opposed it. Mr. Gooch (Rep.) 
of Massachusetts supported, and Mr. Perry (Dem.) of 
New Jersey opposed, the passage of the bill. Mr. 
Fernando Wood, the leader of the unconditional peace 
Democrats, made an elaborate speech against it. "We 
of this generation," he said, "may not be able to esti- 
mate the full measure of the misery that will follow the 
realization of the fantastic theory, which, promising to 
remove the yoke from every shoulder, will curse the 
earth with sterility, and man with vice and poverty." 
Mr. Kelley (Rep.) of Pennsylvania would pass this bill 
"as a means of organizing conquest and peace." The 
debate was resumed by Mr. Cox of Ohio on the 4th. 
"I ask for this people justice," said Mr. Boutwell (Rep.) 
of Massachusetts, " in the presence of these great events, 
in this exigency, when the life of the nation is in peril, 
and when every reflecting person must see that the 



RECONSTRUCTION OF REBEL STATES. 345 

cause of that peril is in the injustice we have done to 
the negro race. I ask that we shall now do justice to 
that race. They are four millions. They will remain 
on this continent. They cannot be expatriated. They 
await the order of Providence. Their home is here. 
It is our duty to elevate them, to provide for their civ- 
ilization, for their enlightenment, that they may enjoy 
the fruits of their labor and their capacity." Mr. 
Pendleton (Dem.) of Ohio spoke strongly against the 
passage of the bill. He declared, "It creates unity; it 
destroys liberty ; it maintains integrity of territory, 
but destroys the rights of the citizen." Mr. Davis 
moved a substitute for the bill. Mr. Ancona^(Dem.) 
of Pennsylvania moved that the bill and substitute be 
laid on the table. The motion was lost. The question 
was taken on Mr. Davis's substitute ; and it was adopt- 
ed. Mr. Cox demanded the yeas and nays on the pas- 
sage of the bill; and they were ordered, — yeas 73, 
nays 59. So Mr. Davis's bill passed the House of 
Kepresentatives . 

In the Senate, the bill w^as referred to the Committee 
on Territories, of which jNIr. Wade w^as chairman. On 
the 27th of May, Mr. Wade reported back the bill 
with amendments. On the 1st of July, jNIr. AYade 
moved to take up the bill for consideration. iSIr. Lane 
of Kansas opposed the motion, and ^Ir. Pomcroy 
advocated it. Mr. Powell demanded the yeas and 
nays; and they were ordered, — yeas 20, nays 11. 
Mr. Wade opposed all amendments. Mr. Lane of 
Kansas demanded the yeas and nays on the amendment 
to strike out the word "white " before the word " male ; " 
and the question, being taken by yeas and nays, re- 



346 RECONSTKUCTION OF R^BEL STATES. 

eulted — yeas 5, nays 24. Mr. Brown (Rep.) of 
Missouri moved to strike out all after the enacting 
clause, and insert, that when the inhabitants of any State 
have been declared in a state of insurrection by the 
proclamation of the President, by force and virtue of 
the act of the 13th of July, 1861, they shall be inca- 
pable of casting any vote for President, or of electing 
senators and representatives in Congress. Mr. Wade 
expressed the hope, that the amendment would not be 
adopted. Mr. Carlile opposed the original bill. The 
question being on Mr. Brown's amendment, Mr. Con- 
ness (Union) from California demanded the yeas and 
nays ; and they were ordered, — yeas 17, nays 16 : so 
Mr. Brown's amendment was agreed to. Mr. Sumner 
moved to amend the bill by adding, " That the procla- 
mation of emancipation issued by the President of the 
United States on the first day of January, 1863, so far 
as the same declares that the slaves in certain designat- 
ed States, and portions of States, thenceforward should 
be free, is hereby adopted, and enacted as a statute of 
the United States, and as a rule and article for the 
government of the military and naval forces thereof." 
Mr. Hale opposed the amendment to Mr. Brown's sub- 
stitute, as he did not wish it embarrassed by any other 
question. Mr. Sumner thought it impossible for any 
person who recognizes the proclamation of emancipa- 
tion to vote against the amendment. "I wish," he 
said, "to make the present sure, and to fix it for ever- 
more and immortal in an act of Congress." Mr. 
Saulsbury (Dem.) of Delaware declared that "an Ad- 
ministration soon, thank God, will be in power, which 
wiU wipe out all this species of legislation, and will do 



RECONSTRUCTION OF REBEL STATES. 347 

it without blood-shedding too." Mr. Brown was in 
favor of Mr. Sumner's amendment as an independent 
proposition, but not on the pending bill. The question 
was taken on Mr. Sumner's amendment, — yeas 11, 
nays 21. Mr. Wilson demanded the yeas and nays on 
Mr. Brown's amendment ; and they were ordered, — 
yeas 20, nays 13. The yeas and nays were then taken 
on the passage of the bill as amended, — yeas 26, nays 
3. So the bill passed the Senate. 

The House of Representatives, on motion of Mr. 
Davis, non-concurred in the Senate amendment, and 
asked a Committee of Conference ; and Mr. Davis of 
Maryland, IVIr. Ashley of Ohio, and Mr. Dawson of 
Pennsylvania, were appointed conferrees. The Senate, 
on motion of JVIr. Wade, by a vote of 18 yeas to 14 
nays, receded from Mr. Brown's amendment. ]Mi\ Da- 
vis's bill passed the Senate on the 2d of July, but did 
not receive the approval of the President of the United 
States. 



348 



CHAPTER XIX. 

CONFINEMENT OF COLORED PERSONS IN THE WASH- 
INGTON JAIL. 

MR. WILSON'S JOINT RESOLUTION. — REMARKS OF MR. WILSON, MR. CLARK, 
MR. HALE, MR. WILSON, MR. FESSENDEN, MR. SUMNER. — MR. CLARK'S 
RESOLUTION. — MR. GRIMES'S BILL. — REMARKS OF MR. GRIMES. — MR, 
POWELL'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. PEARCE, MR. POWELL, MR. 
CARLILE, MR. WILSON, MR. FESSENDEN, MR. LATHAM, MR. COWAN. — 
PASSAGE OF THE BILL. — MR. WILSON'S BILL. — REMARKS OF MR. WIL- 
SON. — MR. GRIMES'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. m'dOUGALL, 
MR. HALE, MR. WILSON, MR. PEARCE, MR. SUMNER. — MR. BINGHAM'S 
BILL. 

IN the Senate, on the 4th of December, 1861, Mr. 
Wilson (Rep.) of Massachusetts introduced a joint 
resolution, that " all persons who may have been arrest- 
ed as fugitives from service or labor, and confined in the 
county jail in the District of Columbia, shall be dis- 
charged therefrom." Mr. Wilson stated that he had 
" visited the jail, and such a scene of degradation and 
inhumanity he had never witnessed. There were per- 
sons almost entirely naked; some of them without a shirt. 
Some of those persons were free ; most of them had 
run away from disloyal masters, or had been sent there 
by disloyal persons, for safe keeping until the war is 
over." He read the report of Mr. Allen, a govern- 
ment-officer, in regard to sixty of the persons confined 
there. Mr. Clark (Rep.) of New Hampshire heartily 
concurred in the desired object ; but he thought the 
names should be put in the resolution. 



COXriXE:MEXT OF COLORED PERSONS, ETC. 349 

"I am very glad," said Mr. Hale (Rep.) of New 
Hampshire, " that this report has been made and pre- 
sented here, because it will help to answer a question that 
was put to me a great many times long and long ago, — 
what the North had to do with slavery. I think, when 
the Northern States find out that they are supporting 
here in jail the slaves of rebels who are fighting against 
us ; that we are keeping at the public expense their 
slaves for them until the war is over, — it will have a 
tendency to enlighten some minds in regard to the 
proper answer to that question. If there be any duty 
which this Congress owes to humanity and to itself, it is 
to look into the administration of justice in this Dis- 
trict, and to see to it that those who have been ground 
to the earth heretofore may not be ground still more 
under your auspices and your reigTi." Mr. M^Dougall 
(Dem.) of California moved to refer the joint resolu- 
tion to the Judiciary Committee. Mr. AVilson was 
willing his resolution should go to the Judiciary Com- 
mittee, or to the Committee on the District of Columbia. 
"I hope," he said, "that these persons will be dis- 
charged as speedily as possible, and then that a law will 
be passed punishing anybody for arresting such per- 
sons ; and that all the laws in the District of Columbia, 
oppressive or degrading to any portion of the people, 
will be wiped from the statute-book, and that all the 
ordinances of the city of that character will be annulled ; 
and then I trust that judicial tribunals will be estab- 
lished worthy of us, and that a system for selecting 
jurors will be ado2:)ted which will secure the ends of 
justice ; and then I hope that slavery will be swept 
away for ever from the District, and the national capi- 

30 



350 CONFINEMENT OF COLORED PERSONS 

tal freed from its pollution. The prison which stands 
in this city is a burning shame and a disgrace to our 
country ; and I hope it will be levelled with the dust, 
and that a prison fit to keep human beings in will be 
erected. The other day, the French legation carried to 
that prison gentlemen who had traversed the world 
examining prisons, — gentlemen who were investigatino 
the subject of prisons, and their construction and dis- 
ci]3line. The jailer told me yesterdaj^^, that, after the}» 
had gone through this prison, they observed that they 
had never seen anywhere such a prison, with one 
exception ; and that was in Austria. If senators will 
go to the prison ; if they can bear to go there, and 
contemplate for a few moments what their eyes will 
look upon, — I think they will then be disposed, at any 
rate, to liberate those poor creatures, who are confined 
there for no offence whatever, and to construct a prison 
worthy of a Christian people.'* Mr. Fessenden (Rep.) 
of Maine saw but one remedy ; and he had been hoping 
to see the day when Congress would " sweep all the 
courts of this District out of existence, and remodel the 
whole affair. . . . But with reference to runaways, men 
who have escaped from rebel masters, if the abuse 
which has been brought to our notice exists here, or 
exists anywhere, I wish now to say before the country, 
— for this matter has excited some interest, not only in 
our armies, but elsewhere, — that I am for rendering 
the most ample justice to them, whenever it can be 
done legally and constitutionally ; and there are few 
instances, I trust, in which both these conditions will 
not be found to agree in reference to that matter." 
"There is," said Mr. Sumner, "a black code in this 



IN THE WASHIXGTON JAIL. 351 

District, derived from tlie old legislation of Maryland, 
which is a shame to the civilization of our age. If any 
one wishes to know why such abuses exist in our prisons 
and in oiu' courts here as have been to-day so eloquent- 
ly pointed out, I refer him to that black code. You 
will find in that black code an apology for every outrage 
that is now complained of. If, therefore, senators are 
really in earnest ; if they are determined that the na- 
tional capital shall be purified, that the administration 
of justice here shall be worthy of a civilized community, 
— they have got to expunge that black code from tlie 
statute-book : but to expunge that black code from the 
statute-book is to expunge slavery itself ; and that brings 
us precisely to the point. Senators will mistake if they 
undertake to meet this question merely on the threshold, 
merely at the outside. They have got to meet it in its 
essence, in its substance. Why is that prison such an 
oftensive place as I know it to be ? — for it has been 
my fortune to visit it repeatedly. It is on account of 
slavery : it is the black code which prevails in this Dis- 
trict. Why is justice so oflPensively administered in 
this District? It is on account of those brutal senti- 
ments generated by slavery, sanctioned by the black 
code which the courts in this District enforce." !Mr. 
M'Dougall, at the suggestion of Mr. Trumbull, modi- 
fied his motion so as to refer the joint resolution to the 
Committee on the District of Columbia ; and it was so 
referred. 

On the 9th, the Senate, on motion of "Mr. Clark, 
adopted a resolution, "That the ^Marshal of the District 
of Columbia be directed to inform the Senate by wiiat 
authority he receives slaves into the jail of the District 



352 CONFINEMENT OF COLORED PERSONS 

at the request of their masters, and holds them in con- 
finement until discharged by their masters." 

Mr. Grimes, on the 2d of January, 1862, introduced 
a bill in regard to the administration of criminal justice 
in the District of Columbia. It was referred to the Dis- 
trict Committee, and reported back by Mr. Grimes, on 
the 6th, with amendments. The bill provided that ail 
persons not held in final judgment, who were confined 
prior to the last term of the criminal court, were to be 
discharged ; and the judge of the criminal court was to 
cause an order to be entered on the records of the court 
before the final adjournment of each term, requiring a 
general delivery of all persons confined in the jail before 
the grand jury for that term were impanelled, and 
against whom no indictment was found by them. "I am 
not," said Mr. Grimes, "very fresh in my reading of 
history ; but, from my recollection of the descriptions 
of prisons I have read of, I think that there never was 
a place of confinement .that would be compared with 
the Washington Jail as it was at the commencement of 
the present session, except the French Bastille and the 
dungeons of Venice. When I visited the jail the other 
day, I had hardly entered the threshold before a colored 
boy stepped up to me, and tapped me on the shoulder. 
He happened to know who I was. Said he, ^I have 
been here a year and four days.' I asked him for what 
offence. He said he was confined as a runaway. I 
asked him if any one claimed him. 'No.' — 'Are you 
a free boy?' — 'Yes.' Turning around to the jailer, I 
asked him if that was so. He said it was. I asked 
him, ' How do you know it to be so ? ' I found that the 
boy had been confined, not twelve months only, but 



IN THE WASHINGTON JAIL. 353 

thirteen months and four days, merely on the cliarge of 
being a runaway." 

On the 14th, the Senate resumed tlie consideration 
of the bill ; the pending question being on the motion 
of Mr. Powell (Dem.) of Kentucky to amend the bill, 
so as not to discharge fugitive slaves. Mr. Grimes 
commented upon the communication just received fi\)in 
Ward H. Lamon, the Marshal of the District, in regard 
to the rule he had adopted, excluding members of Con- 
gress from the jail without a written permission from 
him. Mr. Pearce (Dem.) of Maryland was opposed 
to the enactment of the bill. "You cannot," he said, 
" expect success in restoring the Union, if it be known 
that your policy is one of emancipation. Mr. Powell 
thought the sole object of the bill was the liberation of 
fugitive slaves. " The effect of the bill," he said, " clear- 
ly will be to release every fugitive slave from jail." 
Mr. Pomeroy (Eep.) of Kansas, and Mr. Morrill (Kcp.) 
of Maine, advocated the passage of the measure. ]\Ir. 
Carlile (Dem.) of Virginia would not vote for the bill : 
but he desired "to act upon it, and get rid of it; and 
thus one peg, at least, will be taken from gentlemen, 
upon which they hang their sympathetic speeches for 
the negro race." Mr. Morrill sharply replied to the 
remarks of Mr. Carlile. Mr. AVilson read a letter from 
Dr. Samuel G. Howe of Massachusetts, stating that 
the same atrocities were practised in the jail at .Vlexan- 
dria. He pronounced the jail in Washington "a dis- 
honor and a disgrace to the nation, and it should be lev- 
elled with the dust." — "I liave three sons in tlie army, 
out of four," said Mr. Fessenden ; " and I never would 
have consented that one of them should be there if his 

30* 



354 COXFIXEMEXT OF COLORED PERSONS 

life was to be perilled, exposed to sickness or other dan- 
gers, under the authority of men who ordered him to ar- 
rest fugitive slaves, and return them to theh' masters." 
He denounced the retm-n of fugitive slaves by officers of 
the army as '' an outrage to which he would not submit, 
unless he was compelled to submit to it." Mr. Latham 
(Dem.) of California would vote for the bill without 
amendment. ]SIr. Collamer earnestly opposed ]Mr. 
Powell's amendment not to discharge persons claimed 
as fugitive slaves. He protested utterly against con- 
fining a negro until an owner was found for him. The 
yeas and nays were taken on Mr. Powell's amendment, 
and it was lost, — yeas 5, nays 35. Mr. Cowan (Rep.) 
of Pennsylvania inquired if there was '' any law in the 
District which allows slaves to be impounded in the 
common jail as estrays are impounded in other coun- 
tries." Mr. Sumner replied, that "it was certainly the 
practice." — "If it be the law," said Mr. Cowan, "I do 
not see in what way this bill is going to operate to 
prevent it." ]Mr. Clark moved to amend the bill, so 
that no person could be committed without a warrant ; 
and the amendment was acrreed to. Mr. Powell de- 
manded the yeas and nays on the passage of the bill, — 
yeas 31, nays 4. So the bill passed the Senate. 

On the 12th of February, ]Mr. "Wilson introduced a 
bill for the appointment of a warden of the jail in the 
District of Columbia, and it was referred to the Com- 
mittee on the District of Columbia. He said the jail 
was " under the control of ]Mr. Phillips, the Deputy-Mar- 
shal ; and under the superintendency of a negi'o thief by 
the name of Wise." This "Wise had stolen a negro from 
a Rhode-Island regiment within a few days, and had tied 



m THE WASHINGTON JAIL. 355 

a negro, held as a fugitive slave, for attempting to escnpe 
from the jail, over a barrel, and " cobbed " him. '' Now, 
sir, I want it understood^ in the Senate and in the coun- 
try, and by the men who, on tlieir bended knees and over 
their Bibles, prayed, in the year 1860, for an end to 
these crimes against humanity, that this man Wise, this 
negro thief, who is the superintendent of the jail, is 
there to-day by our votes and our influence, and we are 
responsible for it before the nation and before Almiglity 
God ; and, for one, I wash my hands of the crime, and 
I denounce it." 

On the 13th, Mr. Grimes reported back the bill with 
an amendment ; and, on the 14th, the Senate proceeded 
to its consideration* The committee proposed as an 
amendment to strike out all of the original bill, and 
insert a substitute. Mr. M'Dougall opposed the pas- 
sao'e of the bill, and Mr. Morrill and ]\Ir. Hale advo- 
cated it. Mr. Wilson said, " The night after I intro- 
duced the bill, our man Wise, our negro thief, whom 
we keep there, went out into the city, and stole a wo- 
man who declares herself free, and her mother says 
she is free." IVIr. Pearce opposed the bill. "I am 
glad," said Mr. Sumner, " this subject has been brouglit 
before the Senate. I feel personally obliged to my 
colleague for the way in which he did it, and also to tlie 
committee on the District of Columbia for their prompt 
report of the bill ; but I hope the chairman of that 
committee will pardon me if I say that I do not tliink 
his committee went far enough. He ought to have 
reported a bill to abolish the office of marshal. There 
is an old saying, that Mie gives twice who quickly 
gives ; ' and surely there is no occasion for the appHca- 



356 CONFINEMENT OF COLORED PERSONS 

tion of that saying more pertinent than a case of in- 
justice like this : surely we ought to be j^rompt, and 
every moment of delay is a shame upon us." The bill 
was then passed without a division. 

In the House of Representatives, on the 9th of 
December, 1861, Mr. Bingham (Rep.) introduced a 
joint resolution " in regard to the commitment of 
negroes to the jail of the District of Columbia." The 
resolution declared that all acts, and parts of acts, in 
force in the District of Columbia, which authorize the 
commitment, to the jails of said District, of persons as 
runaways, or suspected or charged with being runa- 
ways, and all acts, and parts of acts, which authorize 
the sale of persons so committed for charges of commit- 
ment or jail fees, be, and the same are, repealed ; and 
so to commit or imprison or sell any person for the 
causes aforesaid within said District is hereby declared 
a misdemeanor. This joint resolution was referred to 
the Judiciary Committee, but no action was taken upon 
it ; nor were the bills relating to the jail passed by the 
House of Representatives. But the exposure, in Con- 
gress, of the shameful abuses in that prison, brought 
redress to the victims of " black codes " and dishonest 
officials. On the 25th of January, 1862, the Hon. 
William H. Seward, Secretary of State, addressed to 
Marshal Lamon the following order : — 

" The President of the United States being satisfied that 
the following instructions contravene no law in force in this 
District, and that they can be executed without waiting for 
legislation by Congress, I am directed to convey them to you. 
As Marshal of the District of Columbia, you will not receive 
into custody any persons claimed to be held to service or 



IN THE WASHINGTON JAIL. 357 

labor within the District or elsewhere, and not charged with 
any crime or misdemeanor, unless upon arrest or commitment 
pursuant to law as fugitives from such service or hibor ; and 
you will not retain any such fugitives in custody boyond a 
period of thirty days from their arrest and commitment, unless 
by special order of competent civil authority. You will 
forthwith cause publication to be niade of this order; and, 
at the expiration of ten days therefrom, you will apply the 
same to all persons so claimed to be held to service or labor, 
and now in your custody. This order has no relation to any 
arrests made by military authority." 



358 



CHAPTER XX. 

NEGRO TESTIMONY. 

THE BILL TO ABOLISH SLAVEKY IN THE DISTKICT OF COLUMBIA. — MR. 
SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — SUPPLEMENTARY BILL TO ABOLISH SLAVERY 
IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. — MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — MR. 
SUMNER'S BILL. — MR. SUMNER' S AMENDMENT TO THE CIVIL APPRO- 
PRIATION BILL. — REMARKS OF MR. SUMNER, MR. SHERMAN. — MR. 
BUCKALEW'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. SAULSBURY, MR. HOW- 
ARD. — MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT ADOPTED. 

THE original bill for the abolition of slavery in 
the District of Columbia, introduced by Mr. Wil- 
son (Rep.) of Massachusetts on the 16th of December, 
1861, provided that the claimant may be summoned 
before the commissioners, and examined on bath ; and 
that the party for whose service compensation is claimed 
may also be examined before the commissioners, and 
may testify. This provision simply secured to the per- 
son claimed to owe service or labor the right to testify 
before the commissioners. 

Mr. Sumner (Rep.) of Massachusetts, on the 3d of 
April, moved to amend the bill by empowering the 
commissioners to take testimony, " without the exclu- 
sion of witnesses on account of color." Mr. Saulsbury 
(Dem.) of Delaware demanded the yeas and nays ; and 
they were ordered, — yeas 26, nays 10. This amend- 
ment empowered the commissioners appointed to assess 
the sum to be paid for each slave claimed to own ser- 



NEGRO TESTIMONY. 359 

vice or labor ; to examine and take the testimony In the 
pending cases of colored witnesses, free or slave. 

On the 7th of July, the Senate having under con- 
sideration Mr. Wilson's supplementary bill for the re- 
lease of certain persons held to service or labor in the 
District of Columbia, Mr. Sumner moved to add as a 
new section, " That, in all the judicial proceedings in the 
District of Columbia, there shall be no exclusion of any 
witness on account of color." Mr. PowxU (Dem.) of 
Kentucky demanded the yeas and nays ; and they were 
ordered, — yeas 25, nays 11. 

In the Senate, on the 25th of June, 1864, Mr. Sum- 
ner moved to amend the third section of the Civil Appro- 
priation Bill by adding, " that, in the courts of the 
United States, there shall be no exclusion of any witness 
on account of color." In support of his amendment, 
Mr. Sumner read a note from a member of the Virgi- 
nia Constitutional Convention, stating that, unless the 
freedmen were allow^ed to give testimony, " their persons 
and property will be at the mercy of every vagabond 
who may happen to have a black heart Instead of a 
black skin. It is hard," he said, " to be obliged to 
argue this question. I do not argue it. I will not 
argue it. I simply ask for your votes. Surely Congress 
will not adjourn without redressing this grievance. The 
king, in Magna Charta, promised that he would deny 
justice to no one. Congress has succeeded to this 
promise and obligation." Mr. Sherman said he had al- 
vrays voted, and always should vote, to make no distinc- 
tion in the color, condition, form, or nation, of a man as 
a witness ; " but I beseech the senator from Massaclui- 
setts not to load down this, the last of the appropria- 



360 NEGKO TESTIMONY. 

tion bills, with amendments that are likely to create 
controversy between the two Houses." Mr. Carlile 
would " appeal to the senator from Massachusetts to 
withdraw this amendment." He demanded the yeas 
and nays upon it; and they were ordered. Mr. Bucka- 
lew (Dem.) of Pennsylvania moved to add to Mr. 
Sumner's amendment, " or because he is a party to or 
interested in the issue tried." Mr. Sumner was in favor 
of the proposition taken by itself, but did not wish it 
put upon his amendment. Mr. Brown reminded Mr. 
Sumner, that that is just what other people said about 
his amendment. Mr. Sumner understood that, but 
wished " to secure this justice." Mr. Buckalew wished 
" to secure the additional justice provided for by his 
amendment." Mr. Saulsbury did not wish " to say any . 
thing about the ' nigger' aspect of the case. It is here 
every day ; and I suppose it will be here every day for 
years to come, till the Democratic party comes into 
power, and wipes out all legislation on the statute-book 
of this character, which I trust in God they will soon 
do." — " Is it to be presumed at the outset," said Mr. 
Howard (Rep.) of Michigan, " that, because a man has 
a black skin, he either cannot or will not tell the truth 
in court? It seems to me that those persons, who object 
to the examination of black persons as witnesses on the 
ground that they are black, put it upon this most unphi- 
losophical, and, I may add, most inhuman and cruel pre- 
sumption, that a negro either cannot or will not tell the 
truth in any case. I shall be guilty of presuming no 
such thing." Mr. Wilkinson (Rep.) of Minnesota sug- 
gested to Mr. Buckalew the modification of his amend- 
ment, so as to apply only to civil actions ; and he so 



NEGRO TESTIMONY. 361 

modified it. jMr. Sumner hoped the amendment would 
not he adopted. The vote was taken, and oSIr. Bucka- 
lew's amendment to Mr. Sumner's amendment was 
agreed to, — ayes 21, noes not counted. The question 
being then taken on the amendment as amended, it was 
adopted, — yeas 22, nays 16. The Civil Appropriation 
Bill was approved by the President on the 2d of July, 
1864 : so that no witness is now excluded in the courts 
of the United States on account of color. 



31 



362 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE COASTWISE SLAVE-TRADE. 

UB. SUMNER'S BILL. — MR. SUMNER' S AMENDMENT TO THE CIVIL APPRO- 
PRIATION BILL. — REMARKS OF MR. SHERMAN, MR. SUMNER, MB. JOHN- 
SON, MR. HENDRICKS, MR. COLLAMER, MR. JOHNSON, MR. SAULSBUEY, 
MR. DOOLITTLE. — ADOPTION OF MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. 

In the Senate, on the 23d of March, 1864, Mr. Sum- 
ner (Rep.) of Massachusetts, from the Select Commit- 
tee on Slavery and Freedmen, reported a bill to prohibit 
commerce in slaves among the several States, and the 
holding or transportation of human beings as property 
in any vessel within the jurisdiction of the National 
Government. The bill provided that there shall be 
no commerce in slaves among the several States, by 
land or by water ; and any person attempting or aiding 
to transport slaves as an article of commerce from one 
State to another State, or any person who shall take 
part in such commerce, either as seller, buyer, or agent, 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, being 
convicted thereof, shall suffer imprisonment for not 
more than five years, and be fined not exceeding five 
thousand dollars ; and every slave so treated as an article 
of commerce shall be free ; and no human being shall 
be held or transported as property in any vessel on the 
high seas, or sailing coastwise, or on any navigable water, 
within the jurisdiction of the United States ; and every 
vessel violating the provisions of this act shall be for- 



THE COASTWISE SLAVE-TRADE. 363 

felted to the United States. But this bill was not taken 
up for consideration. 

The Senate, on the 24th of June, proceeded, as in 
Committee of the Whole, to the consideration of 
the Civil Appropriation Bill. Mi\ Sumner (Rep.) 
of Massachusetts moved as an amendment, tliat sec- 
tions eight and nine of the act entitled " An act to 
prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or 
place within the jurisdiction of the United States 
from and after the first day of January, in the year of 
our Lord 1808," which said sections undertake to resr- 
ulate the coastwise slave-trade, are hereby repealed. 
Mr. Sherman (Rep.) of Ohio would not oppose the 
amendment on an ordinary bill. He had read the two 
sections referred to in the amendment, and felt dis- 
posed to repeal them ; but he trusted the Senate would 
keep the bill free from disputed political questions. ]Mr. 
Sumner regretted the opposition of Mr. Sherman, 
though it was one of form only. " In moving it now," 
he said, " on an appropriation bill, I follow approved pre- 
cedents : it is in conformity with order and with usage. 
... I propose," he said, "to remove from the statute- 
book odious provisions in support of slavery. Whoever 
is in favor of those provisions, whoever is disposed to 
keep alive the coastwise slave-trade, or whoever wishes 
to recognize it in our statutes, will naturally vote 
against my motion. And yet let me say that I am at 
a loss to understand how at this moment, at this stage 
of our history, any senator can hesitate to unite witli 
me in this work of expurgation and purification." Mr. 
Johnson of Maryland contended that the repeal of these 
sections of the act of 1807 woidd leave the slave-trade 



364 THE COASTWISE SLAVE-TRADE. 

open to unrestrained abuses. Mr. Sumner differed 
" radically from the senator from Maryland. He is 
always willing to interpret the Constitution for slavery : 
I interpret it for freedom. He proceeds as if those old 
days still continued, when slavery was installed supreme 
over the Supreme Court, giving immunity to slavery 
everywhere. The times have changed, and the Supreme 
Court will yet testify to the change. To me it seems 
clear, that, under the Constitution of the United States, 
no person can be held as a slave on shipboard within the 
national jurisdiction, and that the national flag cannot 
cover a slave. The senator thinks differently, and re- 
lies upon the Supreme Court ; but I cannot doubt that 
this regenerated tribunal will yet speak for freedom, as 
in times past it has spoken for slavery. And I trust, 
should my life be spared, to see the senator from Mary- 
land, who bows always to the decisions of that 
tribunal, recognize gladly the law of freedom thus 
authoritatively pronounced . " 

Mr. Hendrick (Dem.) of Indiana expressed surprise 
that any senator should oppose the proposition, as it 
would eventually be adopted. He regretted to see all 
the laws made by the fathers to carry out the Constitu- 
tion fall, one after another. Mr. Sumner proposed to 
amend his amendment by adding at the end, "and the 
coastwise slave-trade is prohibited for ever." Mr. Col- 
lamer (Rep.) of Vermont asserted, that, "if it be true 
that Congress can prohibit the carrying of slaves as 
articles of commerce from one State to another, they 
can allow it from one State to another ; and the State 
cannot prevent it. I say, if they can prohibit it or 
regulate it, they can allow it and license it ; and no 



THE COASTWISE SLAVE-TRADE. 3(35 

State can prevent it. . . . In my judgment, all laws, I 
do not care when they are attempted to be made nor 
when they were made, that undertake to deal with 
slaves, who are persons under the Constitution and our 
laws, as articles of merchandise in any form, under any 
regulations of trade whatever, are unconstitutional ; 
and I believe to make a law now' to prohibit the carry- 
ing of slaves from one State to another for sale is totally 
unauthorized. . . . Therefore, inasmuch as the sections 
of the law to which our attention is now called, and 
which it is proposed to repeal, are of that character, 
and attempt to deal with the subject as of that charac- 
ter, I say, repeal them." Mr. Johnson did not concur 
in the views expressed by Mr. Collamer ; and that 
senator, on the 25th, replied to his criticisms. Mr. 
Sumner said, that, "in view of the minute and ample 
legislation of Congress on the subject of passengers and 
of the coasting-trade, I submit there can be no question 
that Congress can go farther, and, by a final regulation, 
declare, that, in that coasting-trade, there shall be no 
such thing as the slave-trade." The question, being 
taken by yeas and nays, resulted — yeas 13, nays 20. 
So the amendment was lost in Committee of the 
Whole. 

After the Civil Appropriation Bill was reported to the 
Senate, Mr. Sumner again moved as an additional sec- 
tion to the bill, that sections eight and nine of the act 
entitled "An Act to prohibit the importation of slaves 
into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the 
United States from and after the first day of January, 
in the year of our Lord 1808," which sections under- 
take to regidate the coastwise slave-trade, are hereby 

31* 



366 THE COASTWISE SLAVE-TRADE. 

repealed, and the coastwise slave-trade prohibited for 
ever. "It seems to me," he said, "this Congress w^ill 
do wrong to itself, w^rong to the country, wrong to 
history, wrong to our national cause, if it separates 
without clearing the statute-book of every support of 
slavery. Now, this is the last support that there is in 
the statute-book ; and I entreat the Senate to remove 
it." Mr. Saulsbury (Dem.) of Delaware moved the 
indefinite postponement of the bill ; and the motion 
was rejected. Mr. Doolittle (Eep.) of Wisconsin 
voted against the proposition ; but as other amendments 
had been put on the bill, and he was in favor of the 
abolition of the coastwise slave-trade, he should vote 
for it. The vote was then taken, and resulted — yeas 
23, nays 14. So the amendment was agreed to, and 
the bill approved by the President on the 2d of July, 
1864. 



367 



CHAPTER XXII. 

COLOR NO DISQUALIFICATION .FOR CARRYING THE 

IVIAILS. 

MR. SUMNER'S BILL. — PASSAGE IN THE SENATE. — REPORTED BY MR. 
COLFAX IN THE HOUSE. — REMARKS OF MR. COLFAX. — MR. DAWES. — 
MR. WICKLIFFE. — BILL LAID ON THE TABLE. — MR. SUMNER'S BILL. — 
MR. COLLAMER'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. COLLAMER. — MR. 
LANE OF INDIANA. — MR. LANE OF KANSAS. — MR. SAULSBURY. — MR. 
SUMNER, — MR. POWELL. — MR. HENDRICKS. — MR. POWELL'S AilEND- 
MENT. — REMARKS OF MR. CONNESS. — MR. JOHNSON. 

IN the Senate, on the 18th of March, 1862, Mr. 
Sumner (Rep.) of Massachusetts introduced a 
bill to abolish all disqualification of color in carrying 
the mails ; which was referred to the Committee on 
Post-offices and Post-roads ; and, on the 27th, Mr. Col- 
lamer reported it back without amendment. The Senate, 
on the 11th of April, proceeded to consider the bill to 
remove all disqualification of color in carrying the mails. 
It provided, that, from and after its passage, no person, 
by reason of color, should be disqualified from employ- 
ment in carrying the mails ; and all acts, and parts of 
acts, establishing such disquahfication, including es- 
pecially the seventh section of the act of ]March 3, 
1825, are repealed. Mr. Powell (Deni.) of Kentucky 
demanded the yeas and nays on the passage of tlie bill ; 
and they were taken, — yeas 24, nays 11. So the l)ill 
passed the Senate. 

Mr. Colfax (Rep.) of Indiana, on the 20th of May, 



368 COLOR NO DISQUALIFICATION 

reported it from the House Post-office Committee, with 
the recommendation that it do not pass. He explained 
the reasons for the action of the committee. "It does 
not," he said, "affect exclusively the blacks of the coun- 
try. It will throw open the business of mail contracting, 
and of thus becoming officers of the Post-office Depart- 
ment, not only to blacks, but also to the Indian tribes, 
civilized and uncivilized ; and to the Chinese, who have 
come in such large numbers to the Pacific coast. . . . 
It would allow all over the South the employment by 
the slaveholder of his slaves to carry the mail, and to 
receive compensation for the labor of such slaves out of 
the Federal treasury. ' By the present law, not a dollar 
is ever paid out of the post-office treasury to any slave- 
holder for the labor of his slave." It was necessary to 
have testimony to convict mail depredators ; " and col- 
ored men were not allowed to testify in the courts of 
many of the States." Mr. Dawes (Eep.) of Massachu- 
setts inquired of Mr. Colfax " whether he supposes 
depredators U23on the mails are tried in the State courts, 
or whether they are tried in the United-States courts ; 
and, if the latter, whether he and I do not make the 
laws of the United States and the courts of the United 
States, prescribing who shall testify, and who shall not." 
Mr. Wickhffe (Dem.) of Kentucky stated that "the 
law which this bill proposes to repeal w^as originally 
enacted to exclude some men in the South who were in 
the habit of obtaining mail contracts, and employing 
their negroes to drive their stages and carry the mails." 
Mr. Colfax moved to lay the bill on the table. Mr. 
Fessenden (Rep.) of Maine demanded the yeas and 
nays ; and they were ordered. On the 21st, the vote to 



FOR CARRYING THE MAILS. 3G9 

lay the bill on the table was taken, and resulted — yeas 
S2, nays 45. 

On the 18th of January, 1864, Mr. Sumner intro- 
duced a bill to remove all disquahfication of color in 
carrying the mails ; which was referred to the Post- 
office Committee. Mr. Collamer, on the 11th of Feb- 
ruary, reported it back with an amendment. Tlie 
Senate, on the 26th, proceeded to its consideration ; 
the question being on the amendment reported by the 
committee, to add, "that, in the courts of the United 
States, there shall be no exclusion of any witness on 
account of color." Mr. Collamer said, "The bill is 
sufficiently explicit in itself ; but the committee were of 
the opinion, that if persons of color were to be em- 
ployed, and rendered eligible to be employed, as car- 
riers of the mail, by those who have contracted to carry 
it, and who wish to employ them, it would be unsafe 
to commit to their hands the mail, when they coukl 
not themselves be witnesses against those who shoukl 
violate that mail, steal it, rob it, and commit depre- 
dations upon it." Mr. Lane (Rep.) of Indiana had 
voted, and would vote, against the measure. "I am 
proud," said Mr. Lane (Rep.) of Kansas, "that I 
represent a State, the people of which have intelligence 
sufficient to sift all testimony i^resented, and justice 
enough to receive the truth from the lijis of individuals, 
without reference to color." Mr. Saulsbury (Dem.) 
of Delaware declared, " We are legislating against rea- 
son, against our own race, by such enactments as this." 
Mr. Sumner read a letter from Postmaster-General 
Gideon Granger to Senator Jackson of Georgia, to 
show that the " orlirin of the offensive legislation sought 



370 COLOR NO DISQUALIFICATION, ETC. 

to be removed grew out of a proposition to sustain 
slavery." Mr. Powell denounced the bill as "fanatical 
and radical legislation : " he demanded the yeas and 
nays, and they were ordered. Mr. Hendricks (Dem.) 
of Indiana was not " content to see a law passed by 
the Congress of the United States, placing the negro 
upon the platform of equality with the white race in 
the courts of the country, the sanctuary of our rights. 
Standing alone, the white race has progressed for a 
thousand years, without a step backward. Standing 
alone, the negro race has gone downward and down- 
w^ard for a thousand years." Mr. Harlan (Kep.) of 
Iowa inquired of Mr. Plendricks, "if, in his opinion, 
riding in a public conveyance with another either creates 
or becomes evidence of social equality between the par- 
ties." — "I did not refer," replied Mr. Hendricks, "to 
any particular action of this body ; but I referred to the 
general tendency of our proceedings, giving nearly all 
the time of the Senate to the consideration of the in- 
terests of the negro, but very little of it to the white 
man." Mr. Powell proposed to amend the amendment, 
so that it would only apply to " cases for robbing or 
violating the mails." This limitation was opposed by 
Mr. Conness (Union) of California, whose purpose 
was " to receive testimony and proof from any source 
that is human." Mr. Johnson of Maryland regretted 
the introduction of the measure ; but, if adopted, he 
trusted it would be confined to free persons of color. 
The bill was not further considered, and is pending in 
the Senate. 



371 



CHAPTER XXin. 

NO EXCLUSION FROM TIIE CARS ON ACCOUNT OF 

COLOR. 

MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS OF MR. SAULSBURY, MR. JOITNSON, 
MR. SUMNER, MR. MORRILL. — MR. SUMNER'S AMENDMENT. — REMARKS 
OF MR. SHERMAN, MR. HENDRICKS, MR. WILLEY, MR. SUMNER, MR. WIL- 
SON, MR. TRUMBULL, MR. SUMNER, MR. WILSON, MR. GRIMES, MR. POW- 
ELL. — AMENDMENT AGREED TO. 

IN the Senate, on the 27th of February, 1863, Mr. 
Sumner moved to amend the House bill to extend 
the charter of the Washington and Alexandria Rail- 
road Company, by adding to the first section, "that no 
person shall be excluded from the cars on account of 
color." The yeas and nays were ordered ; and, being 
taken, resulted — yeas 19, nays 18. So the amend- 
ment was agreed to, was concurred in by the House, 
and approved by the President on the 3d of March, 
1863. 

In the Senate, on the 16th of March, Mr. Sumner 
proposed to amend the bill to incorjiorate the ^Ictro- 
politan Railroad Company by adding, " tliat there shaU 
be no reg-ulation excluding persons from any car on 
account of color." Mr. Saulsbury expressed liis sur- 
prise that there should be such a strong disposition 
manifested on the part of white men and the represen- 
tatives of white men to ride in the cars with negroes. 
"Has any gentleman, any man who was born a gentle- 



372 NO EXCLUSION FROM THE CARS 

man, or any man who has the instincts of a gentleman, 
felt himself degraded by the fact that he was not hon- 
ored by a seat by the side of some free negro? Has 
any lady in the United States felt herself aggrieved from 
the fact that she was not honored with the company of 
Miss Dinah or Miss Chloe on board these cars ? " Mr. 
Johnson, on the 17th, maintained, in reply to Mr. Sauls- 
bury, that colored persons had a legal right to ride in 
the cars ; and, if excluded, they had the same rights as 
white men to appeal for redress to the courts : but 
whether a white man is to ride in a car with black 
passengers, or whether a black man is to ride in a car 
appropriated to white passengers, is a matter that he did 
not think touched any of the great issues now before the 
country. Mr. Sumner agreed with Mr. Johnson, that 
" colored people have the legal right to enter the cars, 
and the proprietors are trespassers when they undertake 
to exclude them." Mr. Carlile thought it better to 
leave the subject to the courts, that are open alike to 
the white and the black man. Mr. Doolittle thought 
the amendment entirely unnecessary. Mr. Morrill 
replied in a speech of eloquence and power to Mr. 
Saulsbury. In reply to the remark of Mr. Saulsbury, 
that this question between the races had better be left 
to the gentlemanly instincts of the superior race and to 
the principles of Christianity, Mr. Morrill said, " Chris- 
tianity is an inspiration of love and good-will to 
man, — purifying, elevating, emancipating; not a law 
of force, — binding, inthralling : " but, "under the 
influence of the gentlemanly instincts of the superior 
race, slavery has come to be cherished, — cherished as a 
benefaction to the race ; cherished as a great social good ; 



ON ACCOUNT OF COLOR. 373 

cherished as tlie corner-stone upon which you arc to rear 
American institutions, — the corner-stone of civil and 
religious liberty." The question being taken on ]\Ir. 
Sumner's amendment, it was agreed to, — yeas 19, 
nays 17. The House concmTed, and the President 
approved the bill. 

On the 21st of June, Mr. Sumner moved to amend 
" the bill to amend the charter of the Washinirton 
and Georgetown Railroad Company " by adding, " tliat 
there shall be no exclusion of any person from any 
car on account of color." Mr. Sherman thought '^ the 
amendment ought not to be adopted." ]\lr. Ilendrick 
opposed the amendment, because it tended to depreciate 
the value of investments made on the faith of former 
legislation. Mr. Willey would vote against the amend- 
ment. The Committee on the District of Columbia, and 
the Senate, had deliberately decided that negroes "had 
the same right under the original charter to go into any 
car, as white persons." — "I presume," said ]Mr. Sum- 
ner, " the senator will vote against this proposition ; for 
he would not act naturally if he did not.'' — "He can 
ride with negroes if he sees proper," replied Mr. AVilley ; 
" so may I : but, if I see proper not to do so, I shall fol- 
low my natural instincts, while he follows his." — "I 
shall vote for this amendment," said ^Ir. Wilson ; " and 
my own observation convinces me that justice, not to 
say decency, requires that I should do so. Some weeks 
ago, I rode to the capital in one of these cars. On the 
front part of the car, standing with the driver, were, I 
think, five colored clergymen of the ]Mcthodist-Ei)iscopal 
Church, dressed like gentlemen, and behaving like gen- 
tlemen. These clergymen were riding with tlie driver on 

32 



374 NO EXCLUSION FROM THE CARS 

the front platform ; and Inside the car were two drunken 
loafers, conducting and behaving themselves so badly, 
that the conductor threatened to turn them out." Mr. 
Trumbull denied that any right would be secured to 
the colored man by the amendment. "This provision," 
he said, "can give no additional right to the negro." 
Mr. Sumner said, " I always regarded the Wilmot Pro- 
viso, if the Constitution were properly interpreted, sur- 
plusage : yet I never hesitated, in season and out of 
season, to vindicate it ; and I believe the senator never 
hesitated, in season and out of season, to do the same. 
. . . And, on the same principle, I insist that this proviso 
also should be adopted." — "The senator from Illinois 
tells us," said Mr. Wilson, "that the colored people 
have a leo:al rioht to ride in these cars now. We know 
it ; nobody doubts It : but this company into which we 
breathed the breath of life outrages the rights of twenty- 
five thousand colored people in this District, in our pre- 
sence, in defiance of our opinions. They may act 
according to their prejudices ; and I would not oflTend 
their prejudices, unless it were necessary to protect the 
rights of others. I tell the senator from Illinois, that I 
care far more for the rights of the humblest black child 
that treads the soil of the District of Columbia than I do 
for the prejudices of this corporation, and Its friends and 
patrons. The rights of the humblest colored man in the 
capital of this Christian nation are dearer to me than the 
commendations or the thanks of all persons in the city 
of Washington who sanction this violation of the rights 
of a race. I give this vote, not to offend this corpora- 
tion, not to offend anybody in the District of Columbia, 
but to protect the rights of the poor and the lowly, 



ON ACCOUNT OF COLOR. 375 

trodden under tlie heel of power. I tru.st we shall pro- 
tect rights, if we do it over prejudices and over interests, 
until every man in this country is fully protected in all 
the rights that belong to beings made in the image of 
God. Let the free man of this race be permitted to run 
the career of -life ; to make of himself all that God in- 
tended he should make, when he breathed into him the 
breath of life." Mr. Grimes desired to know if these 
colored men would not be compelled to enforce their 
rights in the courts if the amendment should pass, and 
"the company goes on, and does exactly what it has 
been doing." — "The company," replied Mr. Sumner, 
" will not dare to continue this outrage in the face and 
eyes of a positive provision of statute." — "Poor, help- 
less, and despised inferior race of white men," exclaimed 
Mr. Saulsbury, "you have very little interest in this 
Government ; you are not worth consideration in the 
legislation of the country : but let your superior. Sam- 
bo's interests come in question, and you will find the 
most tender solicitude in his behalf ! What a pity k is 
there is not somebody to lampblack white men, so that 
their riochts could be secured." ]Mr. Powell thoufjht 
the senator from Massachusetts should, " the ne,\t time 
one of his Ethiopian friends comes to complain to 
him on this subject that he has been wronged and 
outraged, volunteer to bring an action in the courts, 
and teach this heartless corporation that they nmst treat 
these persons properly, and not deny them any of their 
leo-al rif^hts. The senator has indicated to his fanatical 
brethren — those people who meet in free-love societies, 
the old ladies, the sensation preacliers, and those who 
live on fanaticism — that he has offered it ; and I see 



376 NO EXCLUSION FROM THE CARS, ETC. 

no reason why we should take up the time of the Senate 
eternally with squabbling over the senator's amendments 
introducing the negro into every wood-pile that comes 
along." Mr. Sumner called for the yeas and nays ; and 
they were ordered, and, being taken, resulted — yeas 
14, nays 16. The bill was then reported to the Senate. 
Mr. Sumner renewed his amendment ; and it was agreed 
to, — yeas 17, nays 16. The House concurred in the 
amendment ; and the Washington and Georgetown 
Railroad Company was forbidden to exclude persons 
from their cars on account of color. 



377 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

amendjment of tiie coxstitution.— final 

ACTION. 

SECOND SESSION OF CONGRESS. — PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. — EEMAEKS BY 
MR. BROOKS. — MR. CRESWELL. — REMARKS BY MR. ASHLEY ON HIS 
MOTION TO RECONSIDER THE REJECTING VOTE. — REMARKS BY MR- 
ORTH. — MR. SCOFIELD. — MR. BLISS. — MR. ROGERS. — MR. DAVIS. — 
MR. YEAMAN. — MR. ODELL. — MR. KASSON. — MR. FERNANDO WOOD. 

MR. KING. — MR. SMITHERS. — MR. HOLMAN. — MR. TENDLETUN. — 

MR. JENCKES. — MR. ROLLINS. — MR. GARFIELD. — MR. STEVENS. — MR. 
BALDWIN. — MR. WASHBURNE. — MR. PATTERSON. — MR. PIKE. — MR. 
M'ALLISTEE. — MR. HERRICK. — MR. BROWN. — PREVIOUS QUESTION. 

MOTION TO LAY THE MOTION TO RECONSIDER LOST. — RESOLUTION 

RECONSIDERED. — PASSAGE OF THE AMEND JHZNT. — VOTE RECEIVED 
WITH CHEERS. 

^T^HE Second Session of the 38th Congress com- 
-"- menced on the 5th of December, 18G5. The 
President reminded that body, that important move- 
ments had occm'red dm-ing the year, "to the effect of 
moulding society for dm-ability in the Union ; " " that 
Maryland was secure to liberty and Union for all the 
future ; " and that the election, which was the voice of 
the people heard for the first time on the proposed 
amendment of the Constitution abolishing slavery, made 
it almost certain that the next Congress would pass it. 
Without questioning the wisdom or patriotism of those 
who stood in opposition to it at the last session, he 
recommended the reconsideration and passage of it 
now. Mr. Brooks of New York took an early occa- 
sion to controvert the antislavery and general pohcy 

32* 



378 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

embodied in the Message. He was sharply replied to 
by Mr. Price of Iowa, Mr. Myers and Mr. Stevens of 
Pennsylvania. Mr. Creswell (Rep.) of Maryland, in 
committee of the whole on the President's Message, 
made a very elaborate, able, and eiFective speech in 
favor of universal emancipation. "The issue," he said, 
"is sharply defined between the rebellion and the 
United States. On the one side is disunion for the 
sake of slavery ; on the other is freedom for the sake 
of the Union. . . . Whether we would or not, we must 
establish freedom, if we would exterminate treason^' 
On the 6th of January, the House, on motion of Mr, 
Ashley (Rep.) of Ohio, took up for consideration his 
motion to reconsider the vote of the 15th of June, 
rejecting the antislavery amendment to the Constitu- 
tion. Mr. Asliley opened the debate in an earnest 
appeal for the consummation of the measure hy the 
38th Congress. "Pass this amendment," he said, 
" and the gloomy shadow of slavery will never again 
darken the fair fame of our country, or tarnish the 
glory of democratic institutions in the land of Wash- 
ington. Pass this amendment, and the brightest page 
in the history of the 38th Congress, now so soon to 
close, will be the one on wliich is recorded the names 
of the requisite number of members voting in its favor. 
Refuse to pass it, and the saddest page in the history 
of the 38th Congress will be the one on which is 
recorded its defeat." Mr. Ashley was followed by Mr. 
Orth (Rep.) of Indiana, in advocacy of the reconsider- 
ation of the rejecting vote, and the speedy passage of 
the amendment. He declared that the American people 
had decreed that slavery is unfit to live ; that its ablest 



FIXAL ACTION. 379 

defenders cannot long shield it from its inevitable doom ; 
that, if this Congress should not heed the puhlic voice, 
another Congress, fresh from the people, will obey 
their voice, and be rewarded with the gratitude of un- 
told millions. Mr. Scofield (Rep.) of Pennsylvania 
spoke eloquently for early action. He emphatically 
declared, that "slavery in the end must die. It has 
cost the country too much suffering and too mucli pa- 
triotic blood, and is in theory an institution too mon- 
strous to be permitted to live." "The only question 
is, shall it die now, by a constitutional amendment, — 
a single stroke of the axe, — or shall it linger in party 
warfare, through a quarter or half a century of acri- 
monious debate, patchwork legislation, and conflicting 
adjudication?" In replying to the sharp personal criti- 
cisms of Mr. Scofield, Mr. Brooks of Xew York as- 
serted, that the South was abolishing slavery when the 
abolition w^ar commenced upon it thirty years ago ; that 
civil war, amid bloodshed and carnage, had hastened 
the abolition of slavery, but that " we had become the 
slaves, the thralls, the bondmen of the capitalists of 
the North : for the emancipation of the negroes of the 
South we have enslaved the wliite people of the North 
to everlasting debt." 

On the 7th, the debate was resumed by Mr. Bliss 
(Dem.) of Ohio, in opposition to the amendment. 
"The success of this proposition," he said, "would 
dash the cup of hope from the lips of a majority of the 
people of all the adhering States." He declared that 
"the pretence of a humanitarian motive towards the 
negroes amounts to nothing but a display of systematic 
and intense hypocrisy ; " that " the best possible dispo- 



380 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

sition of them is to restore tliem to their primal con- 
dition." Mr. Rogers (Dem.) of New Jersey followed 
in opposition to the antislavery amendment of the Con- 
stitution. " The history of our country will," he said, 
"in pages red with blood, record that this war was 
caused by the acts of the abolitionists of the North. 
... I implore you, in the name of truth, do not 
charge upon slavery the cause of this war. By the 
history of this country, I charge that such men as 
Wendell Phillips, Horace Greeley, Lloyd Garrison, 
and those in power, have been the promoters of this 
war, and the blood of this nation rests upon them." 
Mr. Davis (Rep.) of New York had never understood, 
in its full and perfect extent, the definition of civil 
liberty, until he listened to Mr. Rogers. By the com- 
mentary of that gentleman, civil liberty consisted in 
the right of one people to enslave another people to 
whom nature had given equal rights. " Slavery has 
wrought too much of evil," he said, "it has shed too 
much of innocent blood, it has sent too many of our 
citizens, our brothers, our relatives, and friends to in- 
hospitable graves, it has held its carnival of blood and 
death on too many battle-fields, for gentlemen from the 
free North to stand here as its advocates and defenders. 
. . . The American people, in their majesty and in 
their power, have decreed its absolute and perpetual 
annihilation." 

On the 9th, Mr. Yeaman of Kentucky opened the 
debate in a carefully elaborated and comprehensive 
speech in favor of immediate action. He avowed that 
the perpetuity of slavery was not In issue. "That 
issue," he said, "was made up four years ago, and the 



FIXAJL ACTION. 381 

case has been decided against the institution, one li.'ilf 
the jury being its o\\ai friends. Were we to do noth- 
ing and say nothing, Mr. Davis and General Lee, Mr. 
Stephens and Mr. Seddon, Governor Smith, Porclier 
Miles, and the Richmond press, would soon overturn 
slavery on their present line of thought and conduct." 
Eeferring to the condition of his own State of Ken- 
tucky, he declared that "events have taken the phice 
of arguments, and stern facts the place of doubtful 
conclusions. The disturbing forces are greater than 
we can control. Shall we manfully yield this one 
point, ah'cady of no practical value, or childishly resist, 
and be overthrown with an institution whose fall is 
literally crashing in our ears." Mr. Odell (Dcm.) of 
New York, who had voted for the antislavery amend- 
ment at the preceding session, made a temperate and 
well-considered and effective appeal for the passage of 
the amendment. He confessed that " the error of yield- 
ing to the slave-power of the South is clearly seen by 
the nation, and more keenly felt by the Democratic 
party ; " that, " if the party North had resisted this 
encroachment upon the religious belief and northern 
sentiment forced upon us by the South, the war now 
rairinof would never have been inaugurated ; " that " it 
would have been better far for our country and the 
race, had we exerted our power and manhood at an 
earlier period in our history." He closed his speech by 
declaring that " slavery has been for years a dead weight 
upon the Democratic party ; " that it ought no longer 
to consent to be dragged down ])y its influence ; that it 
" ought to accept the facts of history as they are tran- 
spiring around us, and march on with the world in its 



382 .AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

progress of human events, — turn its back upon the 
dark part, and its eyes upon the bright future." 

Mr. Ward (Dem.) of New York insisted, that Con- 
gress had no right to incorporate the proposed amend- 
ment into the Constitution ; that, if the right existed, 
it was a most injudicious time for the exercise of the 
power, when it would add fuel to the flame, embitter 
the South, and prolong the sanguinary contest. Mr. 
Mallory (Dem.) of Kentucky thought its adoption 
would multiply and complicate the difficulties in rela- 
tion to slavery. " Such an act," said Mr. Voorhees 
(Dem.) of Indiana, "should not be consummated amid 
the fiery passions and vehement hates engendered by 
civil war. It should be the work of calmness and of 
peace. It is to last for all time. When the sky shall 
again be clear over our heads, a peaceful sun illumina- 
ting the land, and our great household of States all at 
home in harmony once more, then will be the time to 
consider what changes, if any, this generation desires 
to make on the work of Washington, Madison, and the 
revered sages of our antiquity." Mr. Clay (Dem.) of 
Kentucky bitterly denounced the emancipation policy 
of the administration. Himself a large slave-holder, 
and the representative of the great slave-holding inter- 
ests of central Kentucky, Mr. Clay saw with appre- 
hension and dread the rapid progress of antislavery 
ideas ; and he feelingly opposed to the adoption of 
measures of emancipation a determined though unavail- 
ing resistance. 

The debate was resumed on the 10th, by Mr. Kasson 
(Rep.) of Iowa, in a temperate, earnest, and effective 
speech. " I had rather stand solitary," he said, " with 



FINAL ACTION. 383 

my name recorded for this amendment, with the hope 
of justice twenty years hence, than to have all tlie 
honors which could be heaped upon me by any political 
party in opposition to this doctrine." Addressing him- 
self to the Democratic side of the house, he said, "If 
you desire peace and harmony, you will give the people 
of the North and of the South an opportunity to estab- 
lish harmonious relations by the expression of legitimate 
majorities upon this question. If you desire perpetual 
discord and war, then you will refuse them the oppor- 
tunity, and compel the perpetuation of this institution, 
with bloodshed without end in the future, and disunion 
without end in the present." Mr. Fernando AVood 
(Dem.) of New York declared, that " the Almighty has 
fixed the distinction of the races ; the Almighty has 
made the black man inferior ; the condition of domestic 
servitude as existing in the Southern States is the 
highest condition of which the African race is capable ; 
and, when compared with their original condition on the 
continent from which they came, is superior in all the 
elements of civilization, philanthropy, and humanity." 
Mr. Eldridge (Dem.) of Wisconsin believed the adop- 
tion of the amendment " would furnish the rebel leaders 
another argument by which to win the doubting and 
to arouse the lukewarm." Mr. King (Dcra.) of Mis- 
souri, who had voted against the amendment, now 
made an elaborate and able argument for its adoption ; 
closing with the expression of the hope, that, " from the 
bloody ordeal and fierce chastening of the past four 
years, our glorious nation may still brave the trials yet 
to come, and that ere long we shall enter the sunshine 
of peace, and stand before the world a free, united, 



384 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

and liappy people." Mr. Grinnell (Rep.) of Iowa 
would vote for the amendment, " because it is a measure 
of justice to millions in chains, to hundreds of thou- 
sands fighting our battles." Mr. Farnsworth (Rep.) 
of Illinois thanked God that he had " the privilege of 
standing up here, and advocating tliis amendment." 
Mr. McBride (Rep.) of Oregon declared that slavery 
had filled the land "with broil, with hate, with intestine 
commotion and irreconcilable discord. . . . Long enough 
has it debauched and deadened the conscience of the 
people ; long enough has it shocked humanity and 
defied Heaven by its violations of every principle of 
truth and morality ; and now, having filled up its cup 
of crime and villany by a treason so rank and foul as 
to shame all historic example and all criminal parallel, 
we, who hold the malefactor in our grip, owe it to 
humanity, to justice, to ourselves, and the world, to 
strangle the guilty monster." 

The debate was resumed, on the 11th, by Mr. C. A. 
White (Dem.) of Ohio in opposition. He expressed 
the belief, that if we forced the rebels to enlist their 
three million slaves into their armies, with the promise 
of freedom for their service, that slavery would be de- 
stroyed and the annihilation of slavery by such means 
would sound the death-knell of the Union for ever. 
Mr. Smithers (Rep.) of Delaware, referring to the 
early antislavery sentiment of his State, said it was 
"unnecessary to recur to subsequent events to ac- 
count for the apparent decline of the antislavery sen- 
timent of Delaware. In the general abandonment 
of their manhood by the friends of liberty through- 
out the whole country we participated, and the hand 



FINAL ACTION. 385 

of freedom went back upon the dial. Again it is 
moving forward, and is fast npon the hour of noon." 
He " was assured, that of those who did not sui)p()rt 
him, there were hundreds, perhaps thousands, who 
will hail with joy the accom})lishment of this great 
measure of justice, tranquillity and security." ^Ir. 
Townsend (Dem.) of New York would not change 
the organic law in times of civil war. ^Mr. IIol- 
man (Dem.) of Indiana believed the fate of slaveiy 
sealed : it dies by the rebellious hand of . its vota- 
ries ; its fate is determined by the war, by the measures 
of the war, by the results of the war, — therefore he 
opposed the amendment as unnecessary, a dangerous 
precedent without a benefit. Mr. Cravens (Dem.) of 
Indiana spoke briefly in opposition to the passage of the 
resolution. Mr. Broomall (Rep.) of Pennsyb.'uiia 
hoped that "the next President of the United States 
will be inaugurated over a Republic wholly free, and 
wholly devoted to the civil and religious liberty of all 
the people within its borders." Mr. Pendleton of Ohio, 
the candidate of the Democracy for the Vice-Presidency 
in 1864, denied the power of three-fourths of the States 
to pass this amendment. lie could not go beyond this 
question of power, and should therefore confine himself 
to its consideration. In closing his argument, he de- 
clared that "the time is fast passing away, when, under 
the influence of your policy and your legislation, the 
Southern people will have the least interest in your 
laws. Your legislation has turned to ashes the golden 
fruits of your military successes. Your policy has veri- 
fied the alleged causes of secession. Gentlemen must 
not be misled by the syren voices that come up to them 

33 



386 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION'. 

from captured cities of the South. They woo you but 
to ruin. If you misunderstand them, they will lead 
you as willing victims upon quicksands and rocks." 
Mr. Jenckes (Kep.) of Ehode Island thought Mr. 
Pendleton had improved upon the school of his master, 
who looked upon a severed and divided Union as " a 
compact of States." lie had designated the nation 
" a compact of confederation." Mr. Jenckes said " it 
was a misuse of language, in this age of the world, to 
charge us with abuse of power, when we place ourselves 
in the direct line of the eternal forces acting out God's 
justice upon earth. ... In this contest, slavery com- 
menced the fight ; it chose its own battle-field ; it has 
foujxht its battle, and it is dead. In the com^se of our 
victorious march, that battle-field has come into our pos- 
session, and the coq:)se of our dead enemy is upon it. 
Let us bury it quickly, and with as little ceremony as 
possible, that the foul odor of its rotting carcass may no 
longer offend us and the world." 

On the 12th, Mr. Smith (Rep.) of Kentucky main- 
tained the proposition, that " it is the duty of the Ameri- 
can Congress, under the present circumstunces, to sub- 
mit this amendment to the people, and that it is the 
duty of the people to adopt it ; because it was this i.^o- 
lated subject of slaveiy that produced the revolution or 
the rebellion ; and only by getting rid of this subject can 
we give permanent peace and tranquillity to the land." 
Mr. Cox (Dem.) of Ohio asserted the right to adopt 
the amendment, but denied its expediency. " Slavery 
is to me," he said, " the most repugnant of all human 
institutions. No man alive should hold me in slavery ; 
and, if it is my business, no man with my consent shall 



FINAL ACTIOX. 387 

hold another." Mr. AVoodbridgc (Itcp.) of Vermont 
declared, that " the blood of the nation and the tears of 
the widow call for the passage of this resolution." Mr. 
Thayer (Rep.) of Pennsylvania regretted that Mr. Pen- 
dleton, in sustaining his views with regard to the un- 
constitutionality of the proposed amendment, should he 
driven to re-assert that old and fast-dying feeling, "that 
the Constitution is not a Constitution for tlie people, 
but a league between States. That heresy leads into 
the bloody slough of secession." 

On the 13th, jMi\ Rollins (Dem.) of Missouri ad- 
dressed the House for more than two hours, in a speech 
of much eloquence and power, in favor of the passage 
of the resolution. He had voted against it ; but he now 
believed its adoption " would go far to strengthen the 
Government, by preventing future dissension and ce- 
menting the bonds of the Union, on the preservation 
of which depends our strength, our security, om* safety, 
our happiness, and the continued existence of free 
institutions on the American continent." I\Ir. Garfiekl 
(Rep.) of Ohio invoked the House "in tlie name of 
justice, in the name of the Republic, to hold not back 
the uplifted sword now drawn to strike the final blow." 
Mr. Stevens (Rep.) of Pennsylvania replied to the per- 
sonal allusions of lsh\ Pendleton, in a brief speech of 
rare power and beauty. In earliest youth he had been 
taught to revere the sublime principles of the Dechu-a- 
tion of Independence. He found in tlie innnortal 
lano-uao-e of the Cfreat men of antiquity one unanimous 
denunciation of tyranny and slavery, and eulogy of 
liberty. His hatred of the infernal iifttitntion, and his 
love of liberty, were inflamed by the inspired teachings 



388 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

of Socrates, and the divine inspirations of Jesus : this 
feeling grew with his growth, and strengthened with his 
strength ; but, he thanked God, it had not decayed with 
enfeeblino; acre. He was wilUno' to take his chance with 
Mr. Pendleton, "when we all moulder in the dust. 
He may have his epitaph vmtten, if it be truly wi-itten, 
* Here rests the ablest and most pertinacious defender 
of slavery, and opponent of liberty ; ' and I will be sat- 
isfied if my epitaph shall be written thus : ^ Here lies 
one who never rose to any eminence, and who only 
courted the low ambition to have it said, that he had 
striven to ameliorate the condition of the poor, the 
lowly, the down-trodden of every race and language and 
color.' [Applause.] I shall be content, with such a 
eulogy on his lofty tomb and such an inscription on my 
humble grave, to trust our memories to the judgment 
of after-ages." — " The Slave power," said Mr. Baldwin 
(Ecp.) of Massachusetts, " has bred traitors as natur- 
ally as foul vapors breed disease, or as a den of thieves 
breeds villany. Any compromise with it would neces- 
sarily become to us ^ the mother of woe and death and 
hell.' Let it be destroyed ; for our republican institu- 
tions camiot be safe while it exists ! Let it be destroyed, 
that the rights of man may be vmdicated, and eternal 
justice satisfied." 

The debate was resumed on the 28th, by Mr. Higby 
(Rep.) of Cahfornia. "There is," he declared, "no 
domestic tranquillity now, and there never will be while 
this institution remains in the land." Mr. Finck 
(Dem.) of Ohio opposed the resolution, "because it will 
not tend to suppi'ess the rebellion and restore the Union, 
but will protract the war." Mr. Washburne (Rep.) of 



FINAL ACTION. 389 

Illinois paid a tribute of respect to those JJciiKJcratic 
members of the Legislature of his State wlio voted '' to 
wipe out the institution of slavery, so wicked and infer- 
nal in itself, and which has brought such untold sorrows 
upon the nation." Mr. Cole (Rep.) of California, and 
Mr. Starr (Rep.) of New Jersey, briefly addressed the 
House in advocacy of the amendment. "The enact- 
ment," said Mr. Patterson (Rep.) of New Ilampslilrc, 
" which reduces an accountable being, however liumble 
and degraded, to the condition of a chattel, that subjects 
liim to unrequited toil and hopeless ignorance, that 
multiplies men for the market oblivious of domestic 
ties, and presses the cup of mixed and measureless woe 
to the lips of helpless women and innocent children, 
iWthout pity and without remorse, has no force as law. 
I diffidently, but fearlessly, deny, upon this floor, that 
any assembly of human law-makers ever possessed the 
power to create a right of property in man which we, 
as men, or citizens of the Republic, are bound to 
respect. Why, sir, the humblest daughter of soitow 
that ever crouched beneath the lash of the task-master, 
lifting her fervent prayer to that Judge ^ whom no king 
can corrupt,' appeals to a tribunal before which tlic 
trembling slave stands, the peer of hd* proud master, 
whose pleasure is the price of her shame, and who cats 
bread in the sweat of her brow." ]\Ir. ^lorris (Rep.) 
of New York believed, "before God, the hour lias come 
in which, if we should avert the judgments of Heaven 
and save our nation from ruin, we must render our 
organic law explicitly affirmative on the great question 
of human slavery." Mr. Pike (Rep.) of Elaine de- 
clared, that the slave system shoidd be eradicated witli- 

33* 



390 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

out delay, and no vestige be left to offend God or 
curse man." 

On Tuesday, the 37tli of January, 1865, Mr. Ashley 
took the floor to close the debate, but yielded it to Mr. 
M'Allister (Dem.) of Pennsylvania. He had voted 
against the amendment ; but he now declared, that, in 
voting for it, "I cast my vote against the corner-stone 
of the Southern Confederacy, and declare eternal vrar 
against the enemies of my country." This emphatic 
avowal was received with rapturous applause by the 
Republican side of the House. Mr. Coffi'oth (Dem.) 
of Pennsylvania had voted against the amendment on 
the 15th of June ; now he should vote for it. Above 
all things, he desired that the Democratic party should 
be again placed in power. Slavery had been a fruitful 
theme for the enemies of Democracy, and he would 
remove from the political arena that which has given 
them life and strength. " If by my action to day," he 
said, "I dig my political grave, I will descend into it 
without a murmur ; knowing that I am justified in my 
action by a conscientious belief I am doing what will 
ultimately prove to be a service to my country, and 
knowing there is one dear, devoted, and loved being 
in this wide world who will not bring tears of bitterness 
to that grave, but will strew it with flowers." Mr. 
Miller (Dem.) of Pennsylvania rose simply for the 
purpose of repudiating the sentiments and positions of 
his two colleagues. 

Mr. Herrick (Dem.) of New York, at the last ses- 
sion, had voted against this resolution from a solemn 
conviction of duty. He now approached its discussion 
with quite altered views as to its expediency. " I shall 



FIXAL ACTION. 891 

now Tote," he said, "for the resohition, as I fonnorly 
voted agamst it, because I think such action on my part 
is best calculated to assist in the maintenance of the Gov- 
ernment, the preservation of the Union, and the perpet- 
uation of the free institutions wliich we inherited from 
our fathers. I may incur the censure of some of my 
party friends on this floor, and perhaps displease some 
of my respected constituents ; but to me the coimtry of 
my birth, and the Government under whose benign pr<j- 
tection I have enjoyed all the blessings of liberty, and 
under which, restored to more than all its oriirinal 
splendor, and strengthened and purified by the trials 
through which it has passed, I expect my children's 
children to enjoy the same blessings long after my 
mortal frame shall have mouldered into dust, is dearer 
to me than friends or party or political position. Firm 
in the consciousness of right, I know that posterity will 
do me justice, and feel that no descendant of mine 
■yvill ever blush at the sight of the page on which my 
vote is recorded in favor of country, government, lib- 
erty, and progress." Mr. Brown (Dem.) of Wiscon- 
ein suof (rested an amendment makini^ hereafter free all 
persons sold or transferred to another, all females, and 
all persons after the first day of January, 1880, wltli 
compensation for direct damage to loyal owners. ]Mr. 
Harding (Dem.) of Kentucky denied the power of 
amendment to abolish or establish slavery ; there was 
"danirer that the Constitution, after all that has been 
done and suffered to preserve it, may at la.<t sink and 
perish by the hand of revolution in the North." ^Ir. 
Kalbileisch (Dem.) of New York spoke at much length 
a"-ainst the amendment, amid manifestations of impa- 
tience. 



892 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Mr. Ashley then moved the previous question upon 
Lis motion to reconsider the vote rejecting, nt the 
last session, the Antislavery Amendment. Mr. Stiles 
(Dem.) of Pennsylvania moved to lay the motion to 
reconsider on the table, — yeas 57, nays, 111. The 
question hein^j^Mr. Ashley's motion to reconsider, 
Mr. Ancm,j*r(Dem.) of Pennsylvania demanded the 
yeas anCnays, and they were ordered. The question on 
reconsideration was carried, — yeas 112, nays, 57. The 
question recurring on the passage of the joint resolution, 
Mr. Ashley demanded the previous question, and it 
was ordered. On motion of Mr. Dawson (Dem.) 
of Pennsylvania, the yeas and nays were ordered on 
the final passage of the joint resolution ; and, being 
taken, resulted, — yeas 119, nays 56, not voting 8, — 
as follows ; — 

Yeas. — Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, Anderson, Arnold, Ashley, 
Baily, Augustus C. Baldwin, John D. Baldwin, Baxter, Beaman, 
Blaine, Blau% Blow, Boutwell, Boyd, Brandcgee, Broomall, William 
G. Brown, Ambrose W. Clark, Freeman Clarke, Cobb, Coffroth, 
^ole, Colfax, Creswell, Henry Winter Davis, Thomas T. Davis, 
Dawes, Deming, Dixon, Donnelly, Driggs, Dumont, Eckley, Eliot, 
English, Farnsworth, Frank, Ganson, Garfield, Gooch, Grinnell, Gris- 
■U'old, Hale, Herrick, Higby, Hooper, Hotchkiss, Asahel W, Hubbard, 
John H. Hubbard, Hulburd, Hutchins, Ingersoll, Jenckes, Julian, 
Ivasson, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg, Orlando Kellogg, King, Knox, 
Littlejohn, Loan, Longyear, Marvin, McAllister, M'Bride, M'Clurg, 
M'Indoe, Samuel F. IMiller, Moorhead, Morrill, Daniel Morris, Amos 
Myers, Leonard Myers, Nelson, Norton, Odell, Charles O'Neill, Orth, 
Patterson, Perham, Pike, Pomeroy, Price, Radford, William H. Ran- 
dall, Alexander H. Rice, John H. Rice, Edward H. RoUins, James S. 
Eolhns, Schenck, Scoiield, Shannon, Sloan, Smith, Smithez's, Spald- 
ing, Starr, John B. Steele, Stevens, Thayer, Thomas, Tracy, Upson, 
Van Valkenburgh, Elihu B. Washburne, William B. Washburn, Web- 
ster, Whaley, Wheeler, Williams, Wilder, Wilson, Windom, Wood- 
bridge, Worthington, and Yeaman, — 119. 



FINAL ACTION. 393 

Nats.— Messrs. James C. Allen, William J. Allen, Ancona, Bliss, 
Brooks, James S. Brown, Chanler, Clay, Cox, Cravens, Dawson] 
Benison, Eden, Edgerton, Eldridge, Finck, Grider, Hall, Harding, 
Harrington, Benjamin G. Harris, Charles M. Harris, Ilijhnaii, I'iiilip 
Johnson, William Johnson, Kalbfleisch, Kernan, Knapp, Law, Long, 
Mallory, William H. Miller, James R. Morris, Morrison, Noble, Jolm 
CXeUI, Pendleton, Perry, Prnyu, Samuel J. Randall, Robinson, Ross, 
Soott, William G. Steele, Stiles, Strouse, Stuart, Sweat, Townsend, 
Wadsworth, Ward, Cliilton A. Wliite, Joseph W. Wliite, WiufielJ, 
Benjamin Wood, and Fernando Wood, — 50. 

Not Voting. — Messrs. Lazear, Le Blond, Marcy, M'Dowell, 
M'Kinney, Middleton, Rogers, and Voorhees, — 8. 

Notice had been previously given, by Mr. Ashley, 
that the vote would be taken on that day. The nation, 
realizing the transcendent magnitude of tlie i.>^sue, 
awaited the result with profound anxiety. The galle- 
ries, and the avenues leading to them, were early 
thronged by a dense mass intensely anxious to witness 
the scene. Senators, Cabinet officers. Judges of the 
Supreme Court, and even strangers, crowding on to the 
floor of the House, watched its proceedings with absorb- 
ing interest. During the roll-call, the vote of Speaker 
Colfax, and the votes of Mr. English, Mr. Ganson, and 
Mr. Baldwin, which assured success, were warmly 
applauded by the Kepublican side. And when the 
Speaker declared, that, the constitutional majority of 
two-thirds having voted in the affirmative, the joint 
resolution was passed, the announcement was received 
by the House and the spectators on the floor with a wild 
outburst of enthusiastic applause. The Ivepublican 
members instantly sprang to their feet, and applauded 
wdtli cheers and clapping of hands. The spectators in 
the crowded galleries waved their hats, and made the 
chamber ring with enthusiastic plauthts. Hundreds 



394 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

of ladies, gracing the galleries with their presence, rose 
in their seats ; and, by waving their handkerchiefs, and 
participating in the general demonstrations of enthusi- 
asm, added to the intense excitement and interest of a 
scene that will long be remembered by those who were 
fortunate enough to witness it. For several minutes, 
the friends of this crowning act of emancipation gave 
themselves up to congratulations and demonstrations of 
public joy. "In honor," said Mr. IngersoU (Rep.) 
of Illinois, " of this immortal and sublime event, I 
move that the House adjourn." The Speaker declared 
the motion carried ; and then, again, cheering and de- 
monstrations of applause were renewed. Mr. Harris 
(Dem.) of Maryland demanded the yeas and nays, on 
adjournment, — yeas 121, nays 24. So the House 
adjourned, having on that day passed a measure, which, 
if consummated, will make slavery for ever impossible 
in the RepubHc of the United States. 



395 



CHAPTER XXV. 

TO MAKE FREE THE WIVES AND CHILDIIEN OF COL- 
ORED SOLDERS. — FINAL ACTION. 

MR. WILSON'S JOINT RESOLUTION TO MAKE WIVES AST) CHILDBED FREE. 

REPORTED BACK BY THE MILITARY COMMITTEE. — MOTION BY MR. 

DAVIS TO REFER IT TO JUDICIARY COM:\riTTEE. — RE3LVRKS OF Mtt. 
WILKINSON. — MR. WILSON. — MR. HENDIilCKS. — MR. PO\VELL. — 
MR. DAVIS. — MOTION TO REFER LOST. — REMARKS OF MR. DOOLITTLE. 
— MR. SAULSBURY. — MR. SUMNER. — MR. CL.VRK. — MR. ROMERO Y. — 
MR. WADE. — MR. JOHNSON. — MR. POWELL'S A3LENDMENT. — MR. DA- 
VIS'S AMENDMENT REJECTED. — REMARKS BY MR. TRUMBULL. — PAS- 
SAGE OF THE JOINT RESOLUTION. — RESOLUTION REPORTED FROM TUB _ 
HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. — RE^IARKS OF MR. WILSON. — MR. 
HARRIS. — MR. MALLORY. — PASSAGE OF THE RESOLUTION. — APPROV- 
AL BY THE PRESIDENT. 

0¥ the 13th of December, 1864, Mr. AVlIson 
(Rep.) of Massachusetts introduced a joint 
resolution to encourage enlistments, and promote the 
efficiency of the military and naval forces, by making 
free the wives and children of persons who had been in, 
or who might be mustered into, the service of the United 
States. The resolution was referred to the Committee 
on Military Affiiirs, and was, on the 14th, reported 
back to the Senate by Mr. Wilson \vithout amendment. 
On the 19th, the Senate, on motion of ^Ir. Wilson, 
proceeded to the consideration of the resolution. ]\Ir. 
Davis (Dem.) of Kentucky moved its reference to the 
Judiciary Committee. Mr. Wilkinson (Rep.) of Min- 
nesota hoped it would not be referred, — "the resolu- 
tion ought to be passed immediately." jMi'. Wilson 



396 TO FREE THE WIVES AND CHILDEEN OF 

hoped the resolution would not be referred to any com- 
mittee. " The needs of the country," he said, " more 
than justice or humanity, have weaponed the hand of 
the slave. . . . Whenever the slave enUsts, he is a free- 
man for evermore ; and thousands of them have en- 
listed since we passed that beneficent act. ... It is 
estimated that from seventy-five to one hundred thou- 
sand wives and children of these soldiers are now held 
in slavery. It is a burning shame to this country ; it is 
an indecency for the American people to hold in slav- 
ery the wives and the children of men who are peril- 
ling their lives before the rebel legions. . . . Wasting 
diseases, weary marches, and bloody battles, are decima- 
ting our armies. The country needs soldiers, — must 
have soldiers. Let the Senate, then, act now. Let us 
hasten the enactment of this beneficent measure, in- 
spired by patriotism and hallowed by justice and hu- 
manity ; so that, ere merry Christmas shall come, the 
intelligence shall be flashed over the land, to cheer the 
hearts of the nation's defenders and arouse the man- 
hood of the bondman, that, on the forehead of the 
soldier's wife and the soldier's child no man can write 
'slave.'" IVIr. Hendricks (Dem.) of Indiana would have 
the resolution go to the Judiciary Committee. Pie was 
"not able to see how, under the Constitution of the 
United States, Congress can free the servant who is 
held to service by the laws of a State." Mr. Powell 
(Dem.) of Kentucky thought the resolution was " pal- 
pably unconstitutional." " Senators," he exclaimed, "if 
you pass this measure, you will have to do it by walk- 
ing over the plain provisions of the Constitution of your 
country." 



COLORED SOLDIERS. 307 

On the 20tli, the Senate resumed tlie consideration 
of the resolution. Mr. Davis (Dem.) of Kentucky 
declared, that " the great and principal effect of this res- 
olution would be in Kentucky, and upon her people : I 
presume it is so intended. . . . The object is to deprive 
slave owners of their property ; it is still further to de- 
moralize the institution ; it is to break it up, per fas aut 
nefas; it is utterly to disregard the Constitution and 
the laws which secure, equally with every other, this de- 
scription of property to their owners, and trample them 
under foot, lavv^lessly, unjustly, without answering any 
wise policy of the Government, and utterly to destroy 
slave property." 

The Senate, on the 5th of January, 1865, resumed 
the consideration of the resolution. The pending ques- 
tion beino^ the motion of Mr. Davis to refer it to the 
Judiciary Committee, Mr. Wilson demanded the yeas 
and nays ; and they were ordered. ]\Ir, Doolittle (Kep. ) 
of Wisconsin believed "the proposition to amend the 
Constitution would triumph in Congress and in three- 
fourths of the States ; and, when that is done, tliis great 
question, the cause of all our trouble, — the question 
which, like sin, has brought into this our paradise 'death 
and all our woe,' covering the land witli blood and 
ashes, — will be finally settled, and settled for ever, by 
the supreme judgment of the American people. Doubt- 
ing the constitutionality of the measure, he would vote 
to refer it to the Judiciary Committee." jMr. Saulsbury 
(Dem.) of Delaware would "maintain the doctrine, 
that not only have you not the power to decree the 
freedom of wives and children of negroes who volun- 
teer in your axmy, if they are from States where slavery 

34 



I 



398 TO FREE THE WIVES AND CHILDREN OF 

is recognized ; but you cannot give permanent freedom 
to the negro volunteer himself, if he be a slave." — "All 
must confess," said Mr. Sumner (Rep.) of Massachu- 
setts, "the humanity of the proposition to enfranchise 
the families of colored persons who have borne arms 
for their country. All must confess the hardship of 
continuing them in slavery. . . . But every argument, 
every consideration, which pleads for the enfranchise- 
ment of ^ the slave, pleads also for the enfranchisement 
of the family. There is the same practical necessity for 
doing it, and the same unutterable shabbiness in not 
doing it. . . . There is a well-known French maxim, 
that ^it is only the first step which costs,' — ce n^est que 
le premier pas qui coute; and on this occasion, per- 
mit me to say, it is only the first stage of the argument 
which merits attention. Concede that the soldier may 
be enfranchised, and it follows that by the same consti- 
tutional power his family may be admitted to an equal 
liberty. Any other conclusion would be as illogical as 
inhuman ; discreditable alike to the head and the heart. 
There is no argument, whether of reason or of human- 
ity, for the enfranchisement of the soldier, which does 
not plead equally for that of his family. Nay, more : 
I know not how we can expect a blessing on our arms, 
while we fail to perform this duty." Mr. Saulsbury 
desired the postponement of the question until the next 
day. Mr. Wilson would consent to the postponement 
after the vote should be taken on the motion of Mr. 
Davis to refer to the Judiciary Committee. The ques- 
tion was then taken on the motion to refer ; and it was 
lost, — yeas 15, nays 19. 

On the 9th, the Senate proceeded to the consideration 



COLORED SOLDIERS. 390 

of the resolution, and ]\Ir. Saulsbury made an elaborate 
speech against its passage. Mr. Davis moved to amend 
the resolution so as to make its operation prospective. 
He avovi^ed his intention to vote against tlie measure, 
even if his amendment should be agreed to. Mr. Clark 
(Rep.) of Xew Hampshire hoped Mr. Davis's amend- 
ment "would not be agi'ced to, and that we shall not 
only set free the wives and children of soldiers who may 
hereafter be enlisted, but the wives and children of 
those who have already gone into the service of the 
country," — " This is the first time," said iNIr. Davis, " I 
have ever ventured to utter a voice in the name of 
humanity in the Senate ; but in the name of humanity, 
— humanity to a degraded and helpless race of beings 
who are unable to support themselves, — I protest that 
they shall not be deprived of the support which their 
masters and owners are bound by the laws to afford to 
them, and that they shall not be thrown helpless upon 
the world, without any means of supporting them- 
selves." — "I have noticed," said Mr. Pomcroy (Kcp.) 
of Kansas, " that men who are arguing in the interest 
of slavery always resist emancipation until the very 
last moment ; and then, when the moment comes, they 
say it would be a great relief to the owners of this 
property to get rid of it, that it cannot take care of 
itself, and humanity comes in and pleads that some 
appropriation may be made to support this class of 
individuals, who are so helpless and so inefficient and 
so worthless. . . . But I have seen the effect of 
abolishing slavery in this District, and on the borders 
of Missouri, where I live ; and I have not yet seen any 
necessity arising for any public appropriation to take 



400 TO FREE THE WIVES AND CHILDEEN OF 

care of any paupers that were the result of emanci^ 
pation. These people have a wonderful facility for 
taking care of themselves, and adapting themselves to 
any condition." 

Mr. Hendricks (Dem.) of Indiana could find no 
authority in the Constitution to disturb the State laws 
that recoonize the relation of master and servant. Mr. 
Wade (Rep.) of Ohio followed in an earnest and eifec- 
tive speech in favor- of the immediate passage of the 
measure. He had been in Kentucky, and knew that 
"the great objection everywhere is, that the negro will 
not enlist unless you free his wife and children. . . . 
I will state, in connection with this subject, that I 
visited Camp Nelson last summer. General Burbridge 
was the commanding officer. I rode there with Gen- 
eral Burbridge from Lexington, in order to see a 
review that was about to take place there ; and a sight 
greeted me such as I never beheld in the world, and 
hope I never shall again. As soon as I had arrived in 
the camp, we had scarcely alighted from the carriage, 
before a colored woman, whom I should suppose to be 
thirty years of age, appeared before us, all bruised to 
pieces. Her face was all whipped to a jelly. She had 
a child with her, which she said was twelve years old ; 
one of whose eyes had been gouged out, and the other 
attempted to be, as they stated, by their mistress, the 
father being in the army. Her head was all cut to 
pieces by what appeared to be a sharp instrument ; her 
skull was laid bare almost, and her back perfectly 
mangled by the torture to which she had been sub- 
jected. All this was done, as we were informed, be- 
cause her husband had enlisted in the army of the 



COLORED SOLDIERS. 401 

United States ; and she and her cliild were compelled to 
flee to this camp the best way they could, in that con- 
dition. And yet gentlemen stand up here, and talk 
about constitutional law in exculpation of such infernal 
acts as these ! Sir, I tell you that slavery is an organ- 
ized rebel, and you can have no peace as long as that 
relation exists in the United States ; and, as God is my 
judge, I hope you will have no peace until you abolish 
it. I ask for no peace until slavery is extmct in these 
United States." 

Mr. Johnson of Maryland could not vote for the 
resolution, because he was fully under the impression 
that Congress had no authority to pass it. Mr. Wilson 
said, that Mr. Davis, when he declares that we shall 
turn poor wives and children out on the world without 
support, " forgets that we pay the husband and father 
sixteen dollars a month to support his wife and his chil- 
dren. We clothe and feed the colored soldier, and we 
pay him sixteen dollars a month, and with that pay he 
can support wife and cliildrcn. iMake them free, and 
not only will his wages go to their support, but the 
labor of their own hands will go to their sui)port. 
Therefore, sir, the question of luunanity raised by the 
senator from Kentucky disappears in view of the facts." 
The amendment moved by Mr. Davis was then rejected 
without a count. Mr. Powell (Dem.) of Kentucky 
then moved, "That no slave shall be emancipated by 
virtue of this resolution, until the owner of the slave or 
slaves so emancipated shall be paid a just compensa- 
tion." Mr. Powell then addressed the Senate in favor of 
this amendment, and in opposition to the passage of the 
resolution in any form. He declared that " those who 

34* 



402 TO FREE THE WIVES AND CHILDREN OF 

look upon African slavery as the cause of the war are 
greatly, sadly mistaken. That is but the distempered, 
fanatical idea of those who had ^ negro on the brain ; ' 
who thought of nothing else ; who spoke of nothing 
else ; who had no other political capital to build upon. 
Tliey are the men who got up that twaddle ; men who 
were prominent among the old maiden ladies who get 
up societies, and those white-cravated creatures who go 
about, and, instead of preaching Christ crucified, preach 
Sambo in chains." He closed his speech by demanding 
the yeas and nays on his amendment, and they were 
ordered ; and, being taken, resulted, — yeas 7, nays 30. 
Mr. Saulsbury then moved to amend the resolution 
by adding, that its provisions " shall not apply to or be 
operative in any State that has not assumed to secede 
from the Union ; " but this amendment was rejected. 
The resolution was then reported to the Senate, and 
Mr. Davis renewed his amendment to make its oper- 
ation prospective. Mr. Carlile (Dem.) of Virginia 
denied " all power to put a negro, the property of his 
master, into the service of the United States in any 
capacity, with the power to liberate him." The ques- 
tion was then taken by yeas and nays on Mr. Davis's 
amendment, and it was rejected, — yeas 6, nays 32. 
Mr. Powell demanded the yeas and nays on the passage 
of the resolution, and they were ordered. "I can 
agree," said Mr. Trumbull (Kep.) of Illinois, "with 
all the appeals which may be made for humanity's sake 
in favor of this measure. Sir, if my vote and voice 
could do it, and I could utter the word or give the vote 
consistently with the oath which before Heaven I have 
taken, I would free, as I have said, every human being 



COLORED SOLDIERS. 403 

upon God's earth. Bclicrving, however, that we have 
not the power to pass such a hiw, with the greatest 
desire on my part to pass it if we had the power, hold- 
ing myself bound by the Constitution which I have 
sworn to support, believing that there can be no gen- 
uine liberty except Hberty regulated by law, belie\*ing 
that we can have no goveniment worth preserving 
unless we stand by the Constitution as it is till we 
change it in a constitutional mode, I must vote against 
the passage of tliis joint resolution." The question on 
the passage of the resolution was then taken, — yeas 
27, nays 10 ; so the joint resolution to make free the 
wives and children of colored soldiers received the sanc- 
tion of the Senate of the United States. 

In the House of Representatives, the resolution was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. On the 
22d of February, Mr. Wilson (Eep.) of Iowa reported 
it Avithout amendment. " Does the gentleman believe,'* 
inquired Mr. Mallory (Dem.) of Kentucky, "that 
Congress has the Constitutional power to pass such a 
law?" — "I have always believed," replied Mr. Wilson, 
" that the Congress of the United States, in time of war, 
when it was necessary to make our population most 
effective for the purposes of war, has the power ; and 
has the power to liberate slaves by congressional enact- 
ment." Mr. Han-is (Dem.) of Maiyland was fully 
convinced that this measure was presented and pressed, 
not to get soldiers ; but " it is for the purpose, and that 
only, of interfering ^nth and abolishing the institution 
called slavery." Mr. WAson would tell the gentleman 
the pm^oose of this act. "To-day, in the forefront of. 
your army, are thousands of colored men risking 



404 FINAL ACTION. 

every thing for the salvation of this Eepublic. Upon 
the fields once cursed by slavery, resounding with the 
clank of the slave's chains and the crack of the over- 
seer's whip, now tread the colored soldiers of the 
Eepublic, under the ensign of the nation, striking 
sturdy blows for freedom and free government. And, 
sir, this Republic cannot afford to disgrace itself in the 
eyes of the civilized world by sending these men out to 
fight its battles, and chaining at home tlieir wives and 
children in that bondas^e which is worse than death. 
It would be a disgrace never to be wiped from the face 
of this nation, if we should permit this wrong to con- 
tinue." Mr. Mallory (Dem.) of Kentucky asked, 
why this measure in view of the passage of the Consti- 
tutional amendment should be pressed now ? Mr. Wil- 
son replied, that the amendment might not be ratified 
by three-fourths of the States for two years to come, and 
he did not wish to have the bondage of these women 
and children resting upon him. Mr. Harris moved 
that the resolution be laid on the table, — yeas 66, 
nays 77. On motion of Mr. Miller, of Pennsylvania, 
the yeas and nays were ordered on the passage of the 
joint resolution. The question was taken, and it was 
decided in the affirmative, — yeas, 74, nays 63. So 
the joint resolution making free the wives and children 
of colored soldiers passed ; and received, on the 3d of 
March, the approval of the President. 



405 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

A BUEEAU OF FREEDMEX. —- FINAL ACTION. 

HOUSE KOX-CONCUR IN THE SENATE AMENDMENT. — COMMITTEE OF CON- 
FERENCE. — REPORT OF THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE. — RE>LVRKS OP 
MR. KERNAN. — MOTION TO LAY THE REPORT ON THE TABLE LOST. — 
REMARKS OF MR. SCHENCK. — REPORT ACCEPTED. — REMARKS OP 
MR. SUMNER. — MR. DAVIS. — MR. HENDRICKS. — MR. GRIMES. — MR. 
SPRAGUE. — MR. SU3INER. — MR. GRIMES. — 3IR. HENDERSON. — MR. 
ILVLE. — MR. CONNESS — MR. IMORRILL. — MR. JOHNSON. — MR. HARLAN. 
— REPORT OF THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REJECTED. — THE SENATE 
ASK ANOTHER CONFERENCE. — THE HOUSE AGREE TO A COiOUTTEE OF 
CONFERENCE. — MR. WILSON REPORTS A BILL FROM THE CONFERENCE 
COMINHTTEE. — REMARKS OF MR. POWELL. — MR. HOWARD. — REPORT 
ACCEPTED. — REPORT ACCEPTED BY THE HOUSE. 

|N the 20th of December, the House of Represen- 
tatives took up for consideration Mr. Eliot's bill 
to establish a Bureau of Freedmen's Affairs, which had 
been postponed from the last session to that day. jNIr. 
Eliot moved to non-concur in the Senate's amendment, 
and ask a Committee of Conference. Mr. Holman 
moved to lay the Senate's amendment on the table, — 
yeas 51, nays 71. The House then non-concurred in 
the Senate's amendment, asked a Committee of Con- 
ference, and Mr. Eliot (Rep.) of Massachusetts, ISlr. 
Kelley (Rep.) of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Noble (Dem.) 
of Ohio were appointed conferrees on the part of the 
House. The Senate agreed to the Conference, and 
Mr. Sumner (Rep.) of Massachusetts, ]\Ir. Howard 
(Rep.) of Michigan, and Mr. Buckalew (Dem.) of 
Pennsylvania "vvere appointed conferrees on the part 
of the Senate. 



406 A BUREAU OF FREEDMEN. 

In the House, on the 2d of February, 1865, Mr. 
Eliot, from the Committee of Conference, reported, that 
the Senate recede from their amendment, and that the 
Committee agree to a substitute for the House bill. 
This report was signed by Mr. Eliot and Mr. Kelly on 
the part of the House, and Mr. Sumner and Mr. How- 
ard on the part of the Senate : Mr. Noble and Mr. 
Buckalew the Democratic members did not sign it. 
Mr. Eliot explained briefly the action of the Committee, 
and the provisions of the bill. The House bill at- 
tached the Bureau to the War Department ; the Senate 
amendment attached the Bureau to the Treasury De- 
partment. The first section of the bill agreed upon by 
the Conference Committee creates a Department of 
Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. The department is 
established at the seat of government ; and the first 
section of the bill puts under the care of the depart- 
ment the lands and other property falling to the national 
Government in the rebel States, and not heretofore 
appropriated to other uses. The Commissioner is to 
be appointed by the President. " Now, sir," said Mr. 
Eliot, " this bill presents to the House no new proposi- 
tion. Substantially, every provision contained there 
will be found, I believe, either in the provisions of the 
House bill, or in the provisions of the Senate bill. 
Many of them are combinations of features of both 
bills. Mr. Keman (Dem.) of New York earnestly 
opposed the acceptance of the report, believing that 
" the policy proposed to be inaugurated by this bill will 
not accomplish the benevolent intentions of its pro- 
moters." Mr. Eldridge (Dem.) of Wisconsin moved 
that the whole subject be laid on the table, — yeas 67, 



FINAL ACTION. 407 

nays 83. The report was then postponed one week, 
and ordered to be printed. 

On the 9th, Mr. Eliot called up the report, and fur- 
ther explained its provisions. Mr. Wilson (Rep.) of 
Iowa called attention to the section authorizin"- the 
Commissioner to make provision with humane and suit- 
able persons for the freedmen, when he cannot otherwise 
employ them. He disliked to put the control of these 
persons into the hands of any officers of the Govern- 
ment ; believing that " the less restraint we put upon 
these freedmen, the sooner we shall make men of them." 

— "There is not," replied Mr. Eliot, "in this bill, from 
beginning to the end, one word that looks to control. 
They are to be aided : they are to be assisted. Tlie 
hand of the Government is to be held out to them ; but 
they are not to be controlled. They are to be treated 

— and my friend will find throughout the bill that such' 
are its provisions — like freedmen." Mr. Wasliburne 
(Rep.) of Illinois desired an explanation of the action 
of the Committee of Conference. The House had 
passed a bill of five sections ; the Senate had substituted 
a new bill of thirteen sections, and the Conference Com- 
mittee had brought in a third bill of fourteen sections. 
This was strange sort of legislation. " The gentleman 
should have remembered," responded Mr. Eliot, " that 
this is by no means a course of unusual procedure." 
Mr. Washburne wished to know if " the principle of the 
original House bill had not been widely varied, and de- 
parted from." — " The principle," replied Mr. Eliot, " of 
the House bill had not been departed from." ^Ir. 
Schenck (Rep.) of Ohio had reported from the ^lilitary 
Committee a bill " to establish in the AVar Dcpartuicnt 



408 A BUREAU OF FEEEDMEN. 

a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees ; " 
and he thought that " persons set afloat by tlie accidents 
and necessities of the war, and needing assistance and 
relief from the Government, should fall within the care 
and attention of that department which is engaged in 
the conduct of the war." 

Mr. Kelley (Rep.) of Pennsylvania said, that "it is 
not often given to a legislature to perform an act such 
as we are now to pass upon. We have four million 
people in poverty, because our laws have denied them 
the right to acquii-e property ; in ignorance, because our 
laws have made it a felony to instruct them ; without 
organized habits, because war has broken the shackles 
which bound them, and has released them from the plan- 
tations which were destined to be their world. We 
are to organize them into society ; we are to guide 
them, as the guardian guides his ward, for a brief pe- 
riod, until they can acquire habits, and become confident 
and capable of self-control ; we are to watch over them : 
and, if we do, we have, from their conduct in the field 
and in the school, evidence that they will more than 
repay our labor. If we do not, we will doom them to 
vagrancy and pauperism, and throw upon another Con- 
gress, and perhaps upon another generation, the duty 
or the effort to reclaim those whose hopes we will have 
blasted, whose usefulness we will have destroyed." 
Mr. Chanler (Dem.) of New York spoke briefly in 
opposition to the report, and for the bill reported by 
Mr. Schenck. Mr. Eliot demanded the previous ques- 
tion. On motion of Mr. Holman of Indiana, the yeas 
and nays were ordered on the acceptance of the report, 
— yeas 64, nays 62 ; so the bill was passed by the 
House of Representatives. 



FIX.iL ACTION. 409 

In the Senate, on the 10th, Mr. Sumner reported the 
measure from the Conference Committee ; and it was 
laid on the table to give senators an opportunity to ex- 
amine it. On the 11th, on motion of Mr. Sumner, the 
report was taken up bj a vote of 25 to 11, and specially 
assigned Monday, the 13th, at one o'clock. On that 
clay, Mr. Sumner explained the action of the Committee 
of Conference, and the provisions of the report. The 
Senate, on the 14th, resumed the consideration of the 
report ; and Mr. Davis spoke in opposition to its accep- 
tance. On the 21st, the Senate, on motion of Mr. 
Sumner, resumed its consideration ; and ]\Ir. Hendricks 
(Dem.) of Indiana opposed that mode of legislation, 
and the general policy of the measure. Mr. Grimes 
(Rep.) of low^a was opposed to an independent De- 
partment. He w^ould place the Bureau in the AVar 
Department. He preferred the bill introduced into the 
House by Mr. Schenck, creating a Bureau in the 
War Department for the white as well as the black. 
"I have lived," said Mr. Pomeroy (Rep.) of Kansas, 
" upon the border, and I have seen thousands of colored 
and white refugees coming into my State ; and I say 
here distinctly, that the colored people are able to take 
care of themselves, and find their places and adapt them- 
selves to their new condition easier and quicker than the 
poor white refugees who are driven out of the border 
States. Any race of men that can adapt themselves 
to slavery can very soon adapt themselves to freedom." 
— "I am," said Mr. Sprague (Rep.) of Rhode Island, 
" opposed to this bill, if I can procure for the colored 
man the elective franchise. AY hen a man can vote, he 
needs no special legislation in his behalf." INlr. Grimes 

35 



410 A BUREAU OF FREEDMi::^. 

moved to postpone the report to the next day. Mr. 
Sumner hoped there would be no postponement. " A 
motion," he said, "to postpone at the present time is a 
motion to kill ; and such is unquestionably the object of 
the senator from Iowa. ... I am pained by this oppo- 
sition. It is out of season. I am pained by it especially 
from the senator from Iowa. I do not judge him. But 
he will pardon me if I say, that, from the beginning, he 
has shown a strange insensibility to this cause. lie is 
for liberty ; but he will not help us assure it to those 
who have for generations been despoiled of it. Sir, I 
am in earnest. Seriously, religiously, I accept emanci- 
2)ation as proclaimed by the President, and now, by the 
votes of both Houses of Congress, placed under the 
sanction of constitutional law." — " No man has a right 
to suppose," replied Mr. Grimes, "that, because I am 
opposed to the adoption of this conference report, I am 
opposed to any freedman's bill. I want an opportunity 
to change it. I think, that, if this question Is postponed 
until to-morrow, we can get that opportunity. I want 
to refer it to another committee of conference. . . . Does 
the senator claim, that the work of his committee on 
conference is immaculate ? Can it not be rectified ? Is 
it not possible to be bettered? Is all judgment and 
wisdom in this world, as well as all antislavery senti- 
ment, and the spirit of freedom, confined to this Com- 
mittee of Conference ? I am just as much in earnest as 
the senator from Massachusetts is ; I am just as much 
in favor of protecting these freedmen as he is ; I will 
go just as far, and spend just as much of my own 
money, or of the money of my constituents, as he will 
spend : but I want to be satisfied, that, when I am doing 



FINAL ACTION. 411 

It, it is going to reacli the o])jccts of my bounty ; and I 
want to be satisfied that all their rights will be protected 
under the law which I am going to adopt, and vote for." 
Mr. Grimes's motion to postpone was not agreed to, — 
yeas 13, nays 16. "In my judgment," said Mr. Hen- 
derson (Rep.) of Missouri, "the bill, if adopted, will, 
instead of benefiting the freedmen of the South, be 
attended with consequences suflftcient in time t(^ rc- 
enslave them. . . . The better policy is to regard them 
as free ; have it understood that we ourselves regard 
them as freemen, and that they are to be treated as such 
upon every occasion ; and that they need no guardians, 
no superintendents, no overseers." 

On the 2 2d, the debate was resumed by i\Ir. Hale 
(Kep.) of New Hampshire, in opposition to the report. 
He strongly opposed the ninth section, authorizing the 
commissioner to let the freedmen out on hire ; and the 
twelfth section, providing that the oflftcers in the Depart- 
ment shall be deemed so far in the military service as 
to be liable to Court Martial. "I am opposed," said 
Mr. Lane (Rep.) of Indiana, "to the whole theory of 
a Freedmen's Bureau. I would make them free under 
the law.; I would protect them in the courts of justice ; 
if necessary, I would give them the right of suffrage, 
and let loyal slaves vote their rebel masters down, and 
reconstruct the seceded States ; but I wish to have no 
system of guardianship and pupilage and overseership 
over these negroes." 

Mr. Conness (Rep.) of California was "very much 
inclined to believe, that both white and black persons, 
in this country, who are in good health and of certain 
ages, are abundantly able to take care of themselves." 



412 A BUEEAU OF FREEDMEN. 

He should vote for the report, because in " the sudden 
change from slavery to freedom there must be a great 
many black people who reqmre assistance." — "I trust," 
said Mr. Davis, "that this measure, v^hich I think is so 
wrong in its policy, that will be so Injurious in its elFects 
to the freedmen, and that contains a vital stab at one of 
the most important principles of the Constitution, will 
now fail, and fail for ever." Mr. Morrill (Rep.) of 
Maine would vote for the bill ; though in doing so, he 
was not sure that the existing laws would be improved. 
Mr. Sumner made an earnest appeal for the consumma- 
tion of the measure. "If you reject the pending meas- 
ure," he said, " you voluntarily refuse to carry forward 
that great act of emancipation wdiich you have already 
sanctioned. I say, therefore, for the sake of emancipa- 
tion, let the report of this committee be adopted; and 
I appeal to you, senators, do not be afraid to be just." 
"I do not know," responded Mr. Johnson of Maryland, 
" that I am afraid to be just. ... I beg leave to state to 
the honorable senator from Massachusetts, that there is 
no present need for that particular enactment. I find 
on my desk a bill, passed almost unanimously by the 
House ; and if it shall become a law, and the President 
shall perform his duty, under it there can be no suflfer- 
inir amono' the black or the white refu2:ees." Mr. 
Harlan (Rep.) of Iowa would insist on the Senate 
amendment to the House bill, and ask for another 
Committee of Conference. The vote was then taken 
on the acceptance of the report, — yeas 14, nays 
24 ; so the report was non-concurred in. Mr. Wilson 
(Rep.) of Massachusetts then moved that the Senate 
further insist on its amendment disagreed to l^y the 



finaXj action. 413 

House of Eepresentatlves, and ask for another Commit- 
tee of Conference. The motion was agreed to ; and 
Mr. Wilson (Kep.) of J\Iassachiisetts, Mr. liarhin 
(Eep.) of Iowa, and Mr. Willey (Rep.) of AVest Vir- 
ginia were appointed conferrees on the part of the 
Senate. The House promptly concurred in a Com- 
mittee of Conference; and Mr. Schenck (Rep.) of 
Ohio, Mr. Boutwell (Rep.) of Massachusetts, and Mr. 
Rollins (Dem.) of Missouri were appointed conferrees. 
On the 28th, Mr. Wilson from the Conference Com- 
mittee reported to the Senate a bill " to establish a Bu- 
reau for the relief of Freedmen and Refugees," which was 
ordered to be printed. This bill provides, "that there 
is hereby established in the War Department, to con- 
tinue during the present war of the Rebellion, and for 
one year thereafter, a Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, 
and abandoned Lands, to which shall be committed, as 
hereinafter provided, the supervision and management 
of all abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects 
relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel States, or 
from afiy district of country within the territory em- 
braced in the operations of the army ; that the Secre- 
tary of War may direct such issues of provisions, 
clothing, and fuel, as he may deem needful for the im- 
mediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute 
and suffering refugees and freedmen, and their wives 
and children, under such rules and regulations as he 
may direct ; that the Commissioner, under the direction 
of the President, shall have authority to set apart for 
the use of loyal refugees and freedmen such tracts of 
land within the insurrectionary States as shall have been 
abandoned, or to which the United States shall have 

35* 



414 A BUREAU OF FREEDMEN. 

acquired title by confiscation, or sale, or otherwise ; 
that to every male citizen, whether refugee or freed- 
man, as aforesaid, there shall be assigned not more than 
forty acres of such land, and the person to whom it is 
so assigned shall be protected in the use and enjoyment 
of the land for the term of three years, at an annual rent 
not exceeding six per cent upon the value of said land 
as it was appraised by the State authorities in 1860, 
for the purpose of taxation ; and in case no such ap- 
praisal can be found, then the rental shall be based 
upon the estimated value of the land in said year, to be 
ascertained in such manner as the Commissioner may, 
by regulation, prescribe ; and that at the end of said 
term or at any time during said term, the occupants of 
any parcels so assigned may purchase the land, and 
receive such title thereto as the United States can con- 
vey, upon paying therefor the value of the land, as 
ascertained and fixed for the purpose of determining the 
annual rent." 

On the 2d of March, the Senate, on motion of Mr. 
Wilson, took up the report of the Conference Commit- 
tee. Mr. Powell (Dem.) of Kentucky did not think 
" a more oflPensive bill had been presented to this Con- 
gress. It would create a multitude of ofl&ce-holders, 
who would be sent upon those States as the locusts were 
sent upon Egypt." He moved that the report be laid 
upon the table : but the motion was lost. Mr. Howard 
(Rep.) of Michigan declared, that he "could not vote 
for this report of the Committee of Conference. It 
places the whole subject in the control and under the 
superintendence of the Secretary of War. It becomes 
a sort of appendage to the War Department." — "The 



FIXAL ACTIOX. 415 

men," said Mr. Powell, " who are to go down there, and 
become overseers and negro-drivers, will be your broken- 
down politicians and your dilapidated preachers ; that 
description of men who are too lazy to work, and just 
a little too honest to steal. That is the kind of crew 
that you propose to fasten on these poor negroes. I am 
astonished that the honorable senator from Massachu- 
setts, who has preached so much for negro equality and 
negro intelligence, now that some of these negroes are 
turned loose by the policy of his party, thinks so poorly 
of them as to put masters over them to manage them. 
I am opposed to placing overseers over freedmen." Mr. 
Cowan moved an adjournment; lost, — yeas 12, nays 
16. Mr. Conness moved to postpone until the next 
day; lost, — yeas 12, nays 16. Mr. Powell desired 
further time to examine the report. Mr. Wilson was 
very anxious to have a vote ; but if the senator from 
Kentucky and his fi'iends would let the vote be taken 
the next day, he would allow the report to go over. 
Mr. Powell would "make no factious opposition, and 
would advise none." The report went over to the 3d ; 
was called up on motion of i\Ir. Wilson ; and, without 
further debate, accepted without a division. 

In the House, Mr. Schenck from the Conference 
Committee reported the bill ; and, upon its adoption, 
demanded the previous question. jNlr. Ilolman raised 
the point of order, that the report did not^come within 
the scope of the Committee of Conference. The 
Speaker ruled, that the Committee had a right to report 
any bill that was germane to the bills referred to them. 
Mr. Holman took an appeal from the ruling of the 
chair. Mr. Brooks demanded the yeas and nays on the 



416 A BUREAU OF rEEEDME:Nr. 

appeal, — yeas 89, nays 35 : so the decision of the chair 
was sustained. The previous question was then or- 
dered. Mr. Cox moved to lay the report on the table. 
Mr. LeBiond (Dem.) of Ohio demanded the yeas and 
nays on the motion, — yeas 52, nays 77 : so the House 
refused to lay the bill on the table. The report was 
then acjeed to without a division : and the bill establish- 
ing the Biureau of Freedmen and Refugees was ap- 
proved by the President on the same day. 



417 



CHAPTER XXVn. 

CONCLUSION. 

THE annals of the nation bear the amplest evidence 
that the patriots and statesmen who carried the 
country through the Revolution from colonial depend- 
ence to national independence, fi'amed the Constitution, 
and inaugurated the Federal Government, hoped and 
believed that slavery would pass away at no distant 
period under the influences of the institutions they had 
founded. But those illustrious men tasted death with- 
out witnessing the realization of their hopes and antici- 
pations. The rapid development of the resources of 
the country under the protection of a stable govern- 
ment, the opening-up of new and rich lands, the expan- 
sion of territory, and perhaps, more than all, the 
wonderful growth and importance of the cotton culture, 
enhanced the value of labor, and increased many fold 
the price of slaves. Under the stimulating influences 
of an ever-increasing pecuniary interest, a political 
power was speedily developed, which early manifested 
itself in the National Government. For nearly two 
generations, the slaveholding class, into whose power 
the Government early passed, dictated the policy of the 
nation. But the Presidential Election of 1860 resulted 
in the defeat of the slaveholding class, and in the success 
of men who religiously believe slavery to be a gi'ievous 
wrong to the slave, a blight upon the prosperity, and a 



418 CONCLUSION. 

stain upon the name, of the country. Defeated in its 
aims, broken in its power, humiliated in its pride, the 
slaveholding: class raised at once the banners of treason. 
Retiring from the chambers of Congress, abandoning 
the seats of power to men who had persistently opposed 
their aggressive policy, they brought to an abrupt close 
the record of half a century of slavery measures in 
Congress. Then, when slavery legislation ended, 
antislavery legislation began. A condensed summary 
of the Antislavery Measures in Congress, briefly 
traced in the preceding pages, may perhaps convey to 
the reader more distinctly their scope and magnitude. 

When the Rebellion culminated in active hostilities, 
it was seen that thousands of slaves were used for mili- 
tary purposes by the rebel forces. To weaken the 
forces of the Rebellion, the 37th Congress decreed that 
such slaves should be for ever free. 

As the Union armies advanced into the rebel States, 
slaves, inspired by the hope of personal freedom, flocked 
to their encampments, claiming protection against rebel 
masters, and offering to work and fight for the flag 
whose stars for the first time gleamed upon their vision 
with the radiance of liberty. Rebel masters and rebel 
sympathizing masters sought the encampments of the 
loyal forces, demanding the surrender of the escaped 
fugitives ; and they were often delivered up by officers 
of the armies. To weaken the power of the insur- 
gents, to strengthen the loyal forces, and assert the 
claims of humanity, the 37th Congress enacted an 
article of war, dismissing from the service officers guilty 
of surrendering these fugitives. 

Three thousand persons were held as slaves in the 



CONCLUSION. 419 

District of Columbia, over which the nation exercised 
exclusive jurisdiction : the 37th Congress made these 
three thousand bondmen freemen, and made slaveholding 
in the capital of the nation for evermore impossible. 

Laws and ordinances existed in the national capital, 
that pressed with merciless rigor upon the colored peo- 
ple : the 37th Congress enacted that colored persons 
should be tried for the same offences, in the same 
manner, and be subject to the same punishments, as 
white persons ; thus abrogating the " black code." 

Colored persons in the capital of this Christian nation 
were denied the right to testify in the judicial tribunals ; 
thus placing their property, their liberties, and their 
lives, in the power of unjust and wicked men : the 
37th Congress enacted that persons should not be 
excluded as witnesses in the courts of the District on 
account of color. 

In the capital of the nation, colored persons were 
taxed to support schools, from which their own children 
were excluded ; and no public schools were provided 
for the instruction of more than four thousand youth : 
the 38th Congress provided by law that public schools 
should be established for colored children, and that the 
same rate of appropriations for colored schools should 
be made as are made for schools for the education of 
white children. 

The railways chartered by Congress excluded from 
their cars colored persons, without the authority of 
law : Congress enacted that there should be no exclu- 
sion from any car on account of color. 

Into the territories of the United States, — one- 
third of the surface of the country, — the slaveholding 



420 CONCLUSION. 

class claimed the right to take and hold their slaves 
under the protection of law : the 37th Congress pro- 
hibited slavery for ever in all the existing territory, and 
in all territory which may hereafter be acquired ; thus 
stamping freedom for all, for ever, upon the public 
domain. 

As the war progressed, it became more clearly appar- 
ent that the rebels hoped to win the Border slave States ; 
that rebel sympathizers in those States hoped to join 
the rebel States ; and that emancipation in loyal States 
would bring repose to them, and weaken the power 
of the Rebellion : the 37th Congress, on the recom- 
mendation of the President, by the passage of a joint 
resolution, pledged the faith of the nation to aid loyal 
States to emancipate the slaves therein. 

The hoe and spade of the rebel slave were hardly less 
potent for the Rebellion than the rifle and bayonet of 
the rebel soldier. Slaves sowed and reaped for the 
rebels, enabling the rebel leaders to fill the wasting 
ranks of their armies, and feed them. To weaken the 
military forces and the power of the Rebellion, the 
37th Congress decreed that all slaves of persons giving 
aid and comfort to the Rebellion, escaping from such 
persons, and taking refuge within the lines of the 
army; all slaves captured from such persons, or de- 
serted by them; all slaves of such persons, being 
within any place occupied by rebel forces, and after- 
wards occupied by the forces of the United States, — 
shall be captives of war, and shall be for ever free of 
their servitude, and not again held as slaves. 

The provisions of the Fugitive-slave Act permitted 
disloyal masters to claim, and they did claim, the return 



COXCLUSIOX. 421 

of their fugitive bondmen : the 37th Congi-ess enactecl 
that no fugitive should be surrendered until the claimant 
made oath that he had not given aid and comfort to the 
Kebellion. 

The progress of the Rebellion demonstrated its power, 
and the needs of the imperilled nation. To strengthen 
the physical forces of the United States, the 37th 
Congress authorized the President to receive into the 
mihtary service persons of African descent ; and every 
such person mustered into the service, his mother, 
his wife and children, owing service or labor to any 
person w^ho should give aid and comfort to the Rebel- 
lion, was made for ever free. 

The African slave-trade had been carried on by slave 
pirates under the protection of the flag of the United 
States. To extirpate from the seas that inhuman traffic, 
and to vindicate the sullied honor of the nation, the 
Administration early entered into treaty stipulations 
with the British Government for the mutual right of 
search within certain limits ; and the 37th Congress 
hastened to enact the appropriate legislation to carry 
the treaty into effect. 

The slaveholding class, in the pride of power, per- 
sistently refused to recognize the independence of Hayti 
and Liberia ; thus dealing unjustly towards those na- 
tions, to the detriment of the commercial interests of 
the country : the 37th Congress recognized the inde- 
pendence of those republics by authorizing the President 
to establish diplomatic relations with them. 

By the provisions of law, white male citizens alone 
were enrolled in the militia. In the amendment to the 
acts for calling out the militia, the 37th Congress pro- 

36 



422 CONCLUSION. 

vided for the enrolment and drafting of citizens, without 
regard to color ; and, by the Enrolment Act, colored 
persons, free or slave, are enrolled and drafted the same 
as white men. The 38th Congress enacted that colored 
soldiers shall have the same pay, clothing, and rations, 
and be placed in all respects upon the same footing, 
as white soldiers. To encourage enlistments, and to 
aid emancipation, the 38th Congress decreed that every 
slave mustered into the military service shall be free 
for ever ; thus enabling every slave fit for military ser- 
vice to secure personal freedom. 

By the provisions of the fugitive-slave acts, slave- 
masters could hunt their absconding bondmen, require 
the people to aid in their recapture, and have them 
returned at the expense of the nation. The 38th Con- 
gress erased all fugitive-slave acts from the statutes of 
the Republic. 

The law of 1807 legalized the coastwise slave-trade : 
the 38th Congress repealed that act, and made the 
trade illegal. 

The courts of the United States receive such testi- 
mony as is permitted in the States where the courts are 
holden. Several of the States exclude the testimony 
of colored persons. The 38th Congress made it legal 
for colored persons to testify in all the courts of the 
United States. 

Different views are entertained by public men rela- 
tive to the reconstruction of the governments of the 
seceded States, and the validity of the President's 
proclamation of emancipation. The 38th Congress 
passed a bill providing for the reconstruction of the 
governments of the rebel States, and for the emanci- 



CONCLUSION. 423 

pation of the slaves in those States ; but it did not 
receive the approval of the President. 

Colored persons were not permitted to carry the 
United-States mails : the 38th Congress repealed the 
prohibitory legislation, and made it lawful for persons 
of color to carry the mails. 

Wives and children of colored persons in the military 
and naval service of the United States were often held 
as slaves ; and, while hiLsbands and fathers were absent 
fighting the battles of the country, these -wives and chil- 
dren were sometimes removed and sold, and often 
treated with cruelty : the 38th Congress made free the 
wives and children of all persons engaged in the mil- 
itary or naval service of the country. 

The disorganization of the slave system, and the exi- 
gencies of civil war, have thro^vn thousands of freedmen 
upon the charity of the nation : to relieve their imme- 
diate needs, and to aid them tlu:ough the transition 
period, the 38th Congress established a Bureau of 
Freedmen. 

The prohibition of slavery in the Territories, its abo- 
lition in the Distnct of Columbia, the freedom of col- 
ored soldiers, their wives and children, emancipation in 
Maryland, West Virginia, and ^Missouri, and by the 
re-organized State authorities of Virginia, Tennessee, 
and Louisiana, and the President's Emancipation Pro- 
clamation, disorganized the slave system, and practically 
left few persons in bondage ; but slavery still continued 
in Delaware and Kentuclcy, and the slave codes remain 
unrepealed in the rebel States. To annihilate the slave 
system, its codes and usages ; to make slavery impos- 
sible, and freedom universal, — the 38th Congress sub- 



424 CONCLUSION. 

niitted to the people antislavery amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States. The adoption of 
that crowning measure assures freedom to all. 

Such are the "Antislavery Measures" of the 
Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Congresses during the 
past four crowded years. Seldom in the history of 
nations is it given to any body of legislators or law- 
givers to enact or institute a series of measures so vast 
in their scope, so comprehensive in their character, so 
patriotic, just, and humane. 

But, while the 37th and 38th Congresses were enact- 
ing this antislavery legislation, other agencies were 
working to the consummation of the same end, — the 
complete and final abolition of slavery. The President 
proclaims three and a half millions of bondmen in the 
rebel States henceforward and for ever free. Maryland, 
Vu'ginia, and Missouri adopt immediate and uncondi- 
tional emancipation. Tlie partially re-organized rebel 
States of Virginia and Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisi- 
ana, accept and adopt the unrestricted abolition of 
slavery. Illinois and other States hasten to blot from 
their statute-books their dishonoring black codes. The 
Attorney - General officially pronounces the negro a 
citizen of the United States. The negro, who had no 
status in the Supreme Court, is admitted by the Chief 
Justice to practice as an attorney before that august 
tribunal. Christian men and women follow the loyal 
armies with the agencies of mental and moral instruc- 
tion to fit and prepare the enfranchised freedmen for the 
duties of the higher condition of life now opening be- 
fore them. 



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